Woman Is the Future of Man

Infobox Korean Film
name = Woman is the Future of Man

---

caption =
director = Hong Sang-soo
producer =Lee Han-na
Marin Karmitz
writer = Hong Sang-soo
starring = Yu Ji-tae
Kim Tae-woo
Seong Hyeon-ah
music = Jeong Yong-jin
cinematography = Kim Hyeon-gu
editing = Ham Seong-weon
distributor = CJ Entertainment
released = 5 May, 2004
runtime = 87 minutes
country = South Korea
awards =
language = Korean
budget = US$ 1.3m
amg_id = 1:307736
imdb_id = 0403692
hangul = 여자는 남자의 미래다
hanja =
rr = Yeojaneun namjaui miraeda
mr =

"Woman is the Future of Man" (여자는 남자의 미래다 - "Yeojaneun namjaui miraeda", 2004) is the fifth film by critically acclaimed South Korean director Hong Sang-soo. The film wasn't a box-office hit, but was entered in the competition category of the Cannes Film Festival and received screenings at several other festivals. The title of the film is a translation of a line from a poem by Louis Aragon that the director saw printed on a French postcard.

Plot

The plot revolves loosely around two old friends: Lee Mun-ho (Yu Ji-tae), a university art teacher and Kim Hyeon-gon (Kim Tae-woo), a graduate from an American film school who has recently returned to his home country. While having dinner in a restaurant, Kim convinces Lee to arrange a meeting between them and Kim's old girlfriend Park Seon-hwa (Seong Hyeon-ah). Unbeknownst to Kim, however, Lee had become involved in a relationship with her after Kim's departure to the United States. The three later on get together for a night of drinking, but in the end, the film doesn't present any emotional climax or even reach a clear conclusion.

Production

"Woman Is the Future of Man" was co-financed by South Korean production companies UniKorea and Miracin Korea, and French producer Marin Karmitz's company MK2.cite web| url=http://www.koreanfilm.org/cannes04.html| title=Cannes 2004 report| work=koreanfilm.org| accessdate=2008-03-25] It was given a production budget of 1.3 million US$.cite book|author=Lee Keun-sang (ed.)|year=2004|title=Korean Cinema 2004|publisher=Korean Film Commission|pages=p. 166-167] It was the fifth feature-length film directed by Hong Sang-soo, who also wrote the screenplay.

Reception

The film was released in South Korea on May 5, 2004. It didn't enjoy a particularly successful theatrical run; the total attendance figure of 284,872 ranked it 46th out of 75 domestic feature-length releases in the country in 2004.cite web| url=http://www.koreanfilm.org/films2004.html| title=List of South Korean films released in 2004| work=koreanfilm.org| accessdate=2008-03-24]

The film was screened alongside another South Korean film, "Oldboy", at the competition category of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, marking the first time that two films from the country were in the competition simultaneously.cite web| url=http://koreanfilm.org/news2004.html| work=koreanfilm.org| title=Korean Film News in 2004| accessdate=2008-03-24] Yu Ji-tae played parts in both films; he had the role of the main antagonist in "Oldboy". Unlike "Oldboy", "Woman Is the Future of Man" did not win any of the awards and reportedly met with a mostly unenthusiastic reception.cite web| url=http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm04.html#womanis| title=Korean Movie Reviews for 2004| work=koreanfilm.org| accessdate=2008-03-24] It was the third film of director Hong Sang-soo to be screened in Cannes, following "The Power of Kangwon Province" (1998) and "Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors" (2000), and the first to be entered in the competition category. In 2005 Hong's next film, "Tale of Cinema", also competed in Cannes.

The film was also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Vancouver International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the London Film Festival and the Pusan International Film Festival.cite web| url=http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/movies/03Woma.html?fta=y| work=The New York Times| title=Woman Is the Future of Man review| author=Manohla Dargis| accessdate=2008-03-24 ] cite web| url=http://lff2006.lff.org.uk/films_details.php?FilmID=566| title=Woman Is the Future of Man| work=London Film Festival| accessdate=2008-03-24]

Critics gave mixed reviews for the film. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, reviewing the film during the New York Film Festival, called it "intellectually stimulating [and] aesthetically bold", and mentioned its suitability for an art-house crowd. Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter was less positive, calling the film amateurish, a dud compositionally and accused the story of being plodding.cite web| url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000512827| title=Woman Is the Future of Man| author=Duane Byrge| work=The Hollywood Reporter| accessdate=2008-03-24] On the review aggregator Metacritic, it has an average score of 64 out of 100 as of March 24, 2008.cite web| url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/womanisthefutureofman| title=Woman Is the Future of Man on metacritic.com| accessdate=2008-03-24]

References

External links

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