NYFF AT 51 REVIEW: "NOBODY'S DAUGHTER"
BY LIZ WHITTEMORE
I can probably count the times on one hand I’ve watched a film and thought to myself, “What the hell is this?” I wish I had nice things to say about NOBODY’S DAUGHTER (HAEWON). I wish I had one nice thing, but I don’t. Maybe I just don’t like chamber pieces? Nope. Not it either. This film follows Haewon (Jung Eun-chae), a young acting student whose mother is leaving her all alone in Korea while she moves to Canada. The film is presented in a diary entry narrative over three dates March 21, March 27th, and April 3rd. On the first day, we find Haewon meeting her mother for one last lunch and walking from the restaurant, to a shop, and finally a park. Once her mother is gone, she calls her professor, who is also her ex lover, Lee Seong-joon (Lee Sun-kyun). They go to dinner and run into classmates and have to pretend it was a chance meeting. On the second date, Haewon and Lee meet at Namhan Fortress. They interact like 11 year olds until he gets angry with her for dating a classmate her own age after they had broken up.
On the third and final date of this film, Haewon goes to the library and falls asleep. She wakes to find a friend and confesses her affair with Lee. While on a walk, she bumps into a mysterious professor from the States, who gushes over her and tells her he is just what he needs since his divorce. Then she meets up with two friends back at the fort, gets a call from Lee and he rushes to meet her there. He tells her that he is leaving his wife and baby for her. As they both flounder in their decision making, they argue again. Suddenly, Haewon is back in the library asleep. End of film? It is exactly as confusing to watch as it is to describe. The lights came up only for me to glance over to my fellow reviewers with mouths ajar and scratching their heads. Written and directed by Hong Sang-soo, I was expecting something extraordinary. And that I gotN. The dialogue is atrocious. It sounds like a skit put on by 6th graders. If I heard, “you’re so pretty” one more time in the span of three minutes, I was going to throw something at the screen. Unfortunately, I did hear it, in each scene, and had nothing to throw. Each time, it’s directed at Haewon, not budging the plot forward whatsoever.
I get that it’s a chamber-piece. The restaurant, the shop, the park and the fort are clearly very important for some reason. The drinking for no reason and the stamping out of cigarette butts must relate to something. But in all honesty, it made the film feel like a student project. Another clear choice which jarred me, was the deliberate use of a single shot for each scene. Even the close ups looked as if they were achieved with a video camera from the 80’s. Zooming in and out, panning across the table from one character to the other, back and forth in one continuous shot. Yikes. I truly hope that I am missing something. Some moral, some linear thought, some plot. Otherwise, no thank you.
VERDICT: Skip It
Written and Directed by: Hong Sang-Soo Starring: Jung Eun-chae, Lee Sun-kyn Country: South Korea Language: Korean Content Advisory: Language
BOTTOM LINE: If you are want to dabble with the genre of chamber pieces, be my guest. Nobody’s Daughter might just be up your alley after all. Personally, I’d stick with some classic Ingmar Bergman films if given the choice.