Film Festival 09 - Daytime Drinking
Daytime Drinking
Natsul, South Korea 2008, 116m
Director: Noh Young-seok
Festivals: Locarno, Toronto 2008; Rotterdam, SXSW 2009
Hyuk-jin's buddies don't think much of his pining over a
girlfriend. In fact, he's a killjoy, ruining the mood and resisting
their efforts to cheer him up. Drinks downed, a pact is made:
they're going for a boys' outing to a resort on the coast. Hyuk-jin
reluctantly agrees, only to find himself alone at the bus station
the following morning. Everyone else got too drunk to remember.
Hyuk-jin nevertheless decides to continue his journey to the
resort, little aware of the odyssey that awaits, involving
enchanting or crazy girls, near-naked hitchhiking in freezing
weather, dodgy companions and the constant invitation to fill a
glass right up, because 'it's so annoying to pour often'. A
veritable balm for the heart. This offbeat ode to recuperation
heralds a multi-talented newcomer: Noh Young-seok. He carried out
virtually every task, even decorating the sets. His distinctive
debut winningly mixes romanticism, deadpan humour and lots of
soju.
In Korean with English subtitles
