Nobody's Daughter Haewon

a film by Hong Sangsoo
2010, 80 minutes

Poster

Synopsis

With her mother about to depart for a new life in Canada, college student Haewon (Jung Eunchae) is in quite a state. She seeks out Director Lee (Lee Sunkyun), her film professor whom she still sees, even though their relationship officially ended more than a year ago. As she considers a new future with him, Haewon drifts in and out of dreams and has a series of encounters: with a professor who teaches in America and knows Martin Scorsese, with a friend locked in a long-term relationship with a married man, with a famous French actress. She tries to find a path forward, but echoes of her recent past are all around her. She wants a drink. She needs to tell someone. She has to live her life.

Reviews

"With a discerning and tender eye for settings as well as for faces, Hong turns nondescript streetscapes into instant icons by the associations that his characters lend them. The straightforward story’s crystalline complexity evokes inner depths with a light touch and conveys raging pain with a puckish glint."
- Richard Brody, New Yorker

"Touching, observant and compassionate tale of a young woman struggling to make sense of the world."
- Mark Kermode, Guardian