Oki’s Movie by Hong Sang-Soo

By

Tao Lin sent me an email, within a thread that I had started in order to (somewhat belligerently, I feel) recommend a movie (Rebels of the Neon God), which I had thought about often while reading Tao’s third novel, Taipei. He asked if I would be interested in writing an essay similar in style to an essay he wrote about Almost Transparent Blue—but about a movie, either the one I had recommended or another of my choice—that he could post on Thought Catalog on June 4, the release date of Taipei. I felt interested in the offer and began writing about Hong Sang-Soo. I first wrote about two other movies, Woman on the Beach and The Power of Kangwon Province, but felt dissatisfied and decided I would write about Oki’s Movie, with which I have strong personal associations.

I wrote the essay in two weeks, researching during the day while at work [1], making notes when I could on paper or in email drafts. After work each day I would come home and try in what felt like futility to form coherent thoughts about the movie, sitting at the dining room table with earphones in and my MacBook in front of me until around 8pm, at which point I would tend to shift my attention toward the NBA or NHL Playoffs. On weekends I would try to work on this either in my room [2] or at the J. Willard Marriott Library—where I noticed, with increasing familiarity, how eerily similar the University of Utah campus looks to South Korea [3].

This essay has, I think, changed my perception of Oki’s Movie and of Hong Sang-Soo’s movies in general by forcing me to think about him and his movies with considerably more effort exerted than I have exerted in the past—considering not only my own reaction and interpretation of the movie, but also those of Professor Marshall Deutelbaum, James Quandt, Professor Kyung Hyun Kim, and others. Additionally, I was exposed to Pythagoreanism, an exciting perspective on valency, and a new type of self-controlled mindset, which has (so far) proven to be an effective method of weakening feelings of despair and hopelessness.

I feel like this essay contains most of the things I would want to convey if asked, “What is Oki’s Movie about?” I’m glad I wrote this essay—if only to have helped myself better formulate and understand my own relationships to Hong Sang-Soo and Oki’s Movie.

Notes I Made While Writing This Essay