Aju teukbyeolhan sonnim (2006) Reviews

• Its simplicity is nothing short of exceptional...

  movedout2007-05-06

  What "Ad Lib Night" accomplishes in its simplicity is nothing short of exceptional. The delicate minimalism employed in Lee Yoon-ki's third feature is tremendously absorbing and is just handled with immense grace. The stealthily devastating isolation of big city living is evoked by a mysterious doppelganger's acceptance to stand beside a dying man in proxy of his runaway daughter. While its key sequences involve the enchantingly doleful stranger, her identity is the least important aspect of the film. This gesture of good faith, which spans a single night in the household, becomes a gentle and emotional narrative that taps into the pulse of young adults, scurrying to depart from their familial tethers and seeking independence. It develops an intricate, underlying tapestry of shame, guilt, responsibility and maturation. Lee's camera acts as a silent, vacant observer. With great clarity and poignancy the camera weaves in and out of conversations held between the family members gathered around the deathbed. The streamlined economy of his static camera-work witnesses the different dynamics and insecurities of the close extended family members through their dialogue and (or lack of) physical expressions. The mood remains plaintive and avoids the trappings of a melodrama by dividing the focus onto the different energies of each character dealing with the situation at hand. The bittersweet melancholy resonating from its final scenes ruminates on the bonds we take for granted and the kinships we have lost.

• Very intimate look at the relations of a small community through an outsider

  refresh_daemon2008-06-29

  Ad-Lib Night is the third film by Lee Yoon Ki and this film falls well into the traditions that began with This Charming Girl, being a rather intimate portrait, a unique aesthetic that utilizes hand-held camera and close-ups, with depth of field framing and a really bold use of natural lighting. In fact, this film fits in Dogma 95 certification for all but perhaps two or three of the requirements (4:3 and director crediting, off the top of my head). Ad-Lib Night explores the story of a young woman who is convinced to play the part of a dying man's estranged daughter. Going from her life in the city to a rural town, she encounters the man's neighbors, acquaintances and relatives and we get to watch, with her, as all the dysfunction in the gathered creeps out and how this affects our "guest", as she struggles to perform her role. I think the potent thing about the story is that, while the actual scope of the story is limited to a several hours in a night, we get to be so intimate and real with the characters. And further impressive is just how realistically all the characters are written and how they act and react. This is further enhanced by the directors selected style of shooting, which puts us right up close to the characters using a hand-held camera, further making it seem like we are there--and with limited lighting, so it seems even more like the actual spaces we sit in on. The performances are solid and I was really impressed by how Lee uses space (temporally, where no plot-intensive action is occurring) in the film to explore characters and still somehow drive forward their development. There is no score for the film and that further enhances the "reality" of the production. Despite the limited lighting used, I found the look of the film to be quite compelling overall, really enhancing what the film is going for. This is not a high concept film. It's an exploration of characters and a small community, in particular, and the interpersonal problems that exist all coming out in the wake of the last days of one of their members. We, along with the young woman, get drawn in as outsiders, but as we with her, we can start drawing parallels with our own lives. So our protagonist not only acts as a surrogate for the absent daughter of the film, but as a surrogate for our own viewing of the film. And in many ways, this very understated approach works extremely well. It's not for everyone, but this is a potent art film that I have to recommend to those who love these intimate stories. 8/10.

• Interesting, and Unexpected

  kobhart2007-01-24

  Two guys run into this woman in Seoul and being convinced she is the runaway daughter of an old man on his death bed, they start talking to her. They had been looking for her for a long time, so even though she denies being the girl, they ask to come back the country-side with them and pretend that she is the daughter, to grant the dying man his last wish. I think what stuck me the most was the picture that this movie painted of a family in grieving over a dying loved one. It seemed genuine, it seemed authentic. It wasn't overdone, and the situation wasn't exploited just to squeeze a few tears out of the viewers. Also, it could have just as easily have been an American family in the same situation. I guess the subject matter is just so universal, if you've ever lost a loved one, you can relate. It was an interesting glimpse into South Korean rural life. I found that I relate to this setting a lot more than I would had the whole movie been set in the big city. The movie had an original concept, and a good story. It delivered. I give it a 7.

• Not so improvised at all!!

  lancer_evo_mitsu_72007-03-04

  When "Love Talk" (the last Lee Yoon-ki film) came-up, all those who praised the beloved "This Charming Girl" (his debut film) went quite disappointed by the flamboyant change from the modest and sincere gaze of "This Charming Girl" to a little pretentious and not so sincere "Love Talk" filmed at LA with a Korean crew. Then some critics asked themselves "Then was 'This Charming Girl' just beginner's luck?". When "Ad Lib Night" came-up the answer came with it: It wasn't. Lee Yoon-ki shows us again his gifted gaze and creates for us (based in a short story), a film where the transparent and crystalline feelings of the main character is teased by the outer forces of society in order to look at herself. The beginning scene of a lost and nervous young girl just feels like the director was taking "Ab Lib Night" just where "This Charming Girl" finished. Some themes of "This Chaming Girl" are recurrent in "Ab Lib Night". At first, we have again a young and shy girl at her twenties. Just like the charming Yeonhae, Lee Bokyung (Ab Lib Night's main character) is living alone in a routine. But Lee Bokyung is at the beginning of the film on the same situation of Yeonhae when she is sitting next to her "Nemesis" (just to say something) with her hand on her purse holding a jackknife and ready to avenge her past. Lee Bokyung is just waiting to take a risk only for the sake of broke her monotonous life. But then, the boys that are looking for the so-called "Myungeun". And is in this moment where Lee Bokyung choose her path and take this risk at last. This decision is the trigger to a slow-paced but excellent movie. Maybe just for those who are looking for something new, or the "This Charming Girl"-fans ;)

• A bit silly, but well executed

  savagedudeguy2007-11-26

  Ad Lib Night (Lee Yoon-ki, 2006) - 8.5/10 Well, this is really uneven and not anything at all what I was expecting but it was pretty great anyway. The setup reminds me of something Haneke would do but nowhere near as dark. It starts out a bit bland, feeling like a minimalistic film that just happens to be shot with hand-held cameras. Then it sort of picks up the place with a much more relaxed pace with (fairly) long static shots. This middle section is by far the most impressive part of the film, sans the "driving home" sequence towards the end. The narrative is really boring and over the top as hell (guys capture a girl who looks like someone they know so she can pretend to be some dying guy's daughter) but there's some pretty nice sequences that come out of. I liked the first sequence of the whole family sitting in the living room arguing because it's very real and even a bit funny. There's another sequence a lot like this but the dialogue comes off a bit too "perfect" and instead of an actual drunken discussion, it comes off as a very abstract argument about morals. Thankfully, as the film progresses, the cinematography seems to get better and better.