The latest from the prolific South Korean film-maker Hong Sang-soo may feel familiar to fans of the director’s lo-fi work. Long, well-lubricated nights of soju drinking and oversharing captured by long, watchful mid-shots figure prominently here, as they do in most of Hong’s pictures.
It remains an effective formula: By the Stream is a wry comedy of manners that muses, in its unassuming way, on the creative act. After a minor scandal among her students, artist and lecturer Jeonim (Kim Min-hee) recruits her slightly famous actor uncle (Kwon Hae-hyo) to direct a skit for a college show. But the uncle brings with him his own notoriety, which upsets the delicate equilibrium of the women’s college.
