The Power of Kangwon Province
| The Power of Kangwon Province | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Hangul | 강원도의 힘 |
| Hanja | 江原道의 힘 |
| RR | Gangwon-doui him |
| MR | Kangwŏn-doŭi him |
| Directed by | Hong Sang-soo |
| Written by | Hong Sang-soo |
| Starring | Baek Jong-hak Oh Yoon-hong |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
The Power of Kangwon Province (Korean: 강원도의 힘) is the second film by South Korean director Hong Sang-soo. It follows the lives of a man and a woman who have decided to end their affair. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
Plot
Three young girls, Jisook, Misun and Eunkyoung take a trip to the mountainous Kangwon Province of South Korea. Jisook has just broken up with another married man, and she is lonely and unhappy with her current situation. They meet a young policeman who shows them around and after a meal where they all get drunk together, Jisook ends up passing out with the policeman in her bed, but not having sex. He is married, but Jisook returns another day to see him and they end up falling-over drunk again.
The second half the film then follows the situation of Sangwon, the married man that Jisook has just broken up with. In a typically symmetrical fashion, after a repeat scene where it becomes apparent that both of them are on the same train, Sangwon also visits the Kangwon Province with a friend and the paths of the two characters cross without them ever meeting there, both of them encountering a couple involved in a murder investigation.
Reception
Critics gave positive reviews to the film. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film "etched with precision" and "one of the best films you can see this year".[2] Richard Brody of The New Yorker praised it as a "coolly bracing drama" and wrote that Hong filmed the story "as a romantic travelogue".[3] Time Out described the film as "complex in structure and subtler in effect", calling it "virtuoso film-making".[4]
Awards and nominations
At the 36th Grand Bell Awards in 1999, The Power of Kangwon Province was nominated for Best Film and Best Director for Hong Sang-soo. It was the only Hong Sang-soo's work that has won a Grand Bell Award Best Film nomination. The film also won Best New Technology for Kim Yeong-cheol.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ "Festival de Cannes: THE POWER OF KANGWON PROVINCE". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
- ↑ Dargis, Manohla (27 November 2004). "A Korea Divided, but Between Men and Women". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
- ↑ Brody, Richard (11 June 2021). "The Power of Kangwon Province". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
- ↑ "The Power of Kangwon Province". Time Out. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
- ↑ "대종상영화제". www.daejongfilmaward.kr (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2026-05-15.
- Kim, Kyung-hyun (2004). "7. New Korean Cinema Auteurs: Too Early/Too Late: Temporality and Repetition in Hong Sang-su's Films: The Power of Kangwon Province". The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema. Durham and London: Duke University Press. pp. 217–223. ISBN 0-8223-3267-1.
External links