By William Wolf

RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN  Send This Review to a Friend

South Korean director Hong Sang–soo double dips with this sly film “Right Now, Wrong Then.” He tells a story involving a director and a painter, then presto, he reverses the film’s title and starts again telling the story as it might have happened differently. The result is that the gambit is mildly entertaining, but the problem is that while the second telling takes a somewhat different perspective on the characters, it is not different enough.

Jung Jae-young plays Ham Chung-su, a film director of some note, who is visiting a small city, when he casually encounters Kim Min-hee as Yoon Hee-jung, a fledgling painter. They become acquainted in an understated manner and by the time that section of the film ends, one could see a possible continuation of a friendship even though the charming encounter concludes.

Switch to the retelling. This time what happens is more acute, with the gingerly acquaintanceship now replaced with heavy drinking, a stab at going further, an argument and a tougher view of both protagonists. But is that enough for a second look?

The actors are interesting to watch and the incidents in take two have more flavor than the first time around. Yet the overall result is slim, and not much more than a slice-of-life peek at two people going through their respective paces. A Grasshopper Films release. Reviewed June 24, 2016.

  

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