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The Novelist's Film

Play trailer Poster for The Novelist's Film 2022 1h 32m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Junhee (Lee Hyeyoung, last seen in Hong's In Front of Your Face) is a novelist who's grown disenchanted with her own writing. On a trip to see an old friend, she runs into a film director who was set to adapt one of her novels before the project fell through. One chance encounter leads to another and soon she finds herself having lunch with Kilsoo (Kim Minhee), a well-known actress also questioning her role as an artist. It's then that Junhee has an epiphany: she will make a film starring Kilsoo. It won't be like other films. It will be the novelist's film.
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The Novelist's Film

The Novelist's Film

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Critics Consensus

Hong Sang-soo reaffirms his ability to distill beauty and wisdom from the mundane in The Novelist's Film, a pure and delightful deliberation on an artist's creative process.

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Critics Reviews

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Justin Chang Los Angeles Times 11/07/2022
Tense, absorbing and finally enchanting... Go to Full Review Austin Considine New York Times 10/27/2022
A Chekhovian study in small moments and chance encounters, which is to say it is a study of human beings as they really live: ambiguously and without exposition, spontaneously and without tidy motives or resolution. Go to Full Review David Ehrlich IndieWire 10/25/2022
B+
I can’t say whether Hong has suffered any of the creative self-doubts that animate his latest heroine, but the film he’s made for her feels as revealing as the one she then makes for herself. Go to Full Review Stephanie Bunbury Deadline Hollywood Daily 09/19/2023
At a time when so many people have been isolated, it is a hymn to the galvanizing spark of collaboration. Go to Full Review Kathy Fennessy Video Librarian Magazine 08/22/2023
4/5
If The Novelist's Film revolves around a writer and director who constantly surprises, Hong proves with this film, that he can, too. Go to Full Review Victor Esquirol Otroscines.com 04/06/2023
4/5
A story told with the disarming humility of someone who does not carry with them the burdensome self-imposition of sharing great revelations every time they bring us together in a movie theater. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shahram 12/26/2022 natural life when we just pass without observing all around us, then Hong is slowing the time and pause the moments to walk through how exactly humankind is struggling and how we lost our taste and senses. how normality of society rules us to follow paths without questioning and when we do it becomes marvelous moment. nice touch 👌. See more Richard B @RichardB12314 12/02/2024 It's a nice movie about artists taking a break and trying to regenerate their energy and ideas for a new project. See more Steve C 07/21/2024 Seems to have been filmed and set during COVID-19 with its actors wearing masks at seemingly scripted times. I wonder what viewers years later would think, if they don't recall the time period of COVID-19. The choice to shoot the film in grayscale, save for a minute near the end, is lost on me. See more gonzalo n 11/15/2022 No hay con qué darle. Cultura y vida real de una forma tan explícita que solo Hong puede lograr. See more Read all reviews
The Novelist's Film

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Cast & Crew

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Hong Sang-soo

Director

Lee Hye-young

Junhee

Kim Min-hee

Kilsoo

Seo Young-hwa

Sewon

Park Mi-so

Hyeon-u

Kwon Hae-hyo

Hyojin
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The Novelist's Film

The Novelist's Film (2022) The Novelist's Film (2022) The Novelist's Film (2022) The Novelist's Film (2022) The Novelist's Film (2022) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Junhee (Lee Hyeyoung, last seen in Hong's In Front of Your Face) is a novelist who's grown disenchanted with her own writing. On a trip to see an old friend, she runs into a film director who was set to adapt one of her novels before the project fell through. One chance encounter leads to another and soon she finds herself having lunch with Kilsoo (Kim Minhee), a well-known actress also questioning her role as an artist. It's then that Junhee has an epiphany: she will make a film starring Kilsoo. It won't be like other films. It will be the novelist's film.
Director
Hong Sang-soo
Producer
Kim Min-hee, Lee Soyeong, Hong Sang-soo
Screenwriter
Hong Sang-soo
Distributor
The Cinema Guild
Production Co
Jeonwonsa Film
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Korean
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 28, 2022, Limited
Runtime
1h 32m
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