Hong Sangsoo

Hong Sangsoo is a filmmaker who isn’t afraid to repeat himself. Fashioning narratives around lonesome or just pathetic male artists’ attempts at finding romantic connection, Hong’s films are characterized by their long takes and minute variations—a slightly off-center frame of two people talking, a digital zoom, a subtle readjustment of focus—that make us question what’s really going on in the scene. In honor of his soju-fueled comedy of manners, Digital Editor Violet Lucca served as bartender for Genevieve Yue, assistant professor at Eugene Lang College at the New School, Leo Goldsmith, co-editor of the film section of The Brooklyn Rail, Max Nelson, editorial assistant at the New York Review of Books, and Jeff Reichert, filmmaker and co-editor of Reverse Shot.