Drinking Test

What Does That Nature Say to You (2025) - Hong Donghwa (Ha Seongguk), a thirty-something poet drops off his girlfriend Junhee (Kang Soyi) to her parents' house outside Seoul in his used old car that he loves. And the clunky blue car is the one that her father (Kwon Haehyo) notices, along with his facial hair. Maybe out of politeness, Dongwha and the father carries on an awkward conversation about the rural house that the father built for his now deceased mother, which is equipped with a chicken coop, a cozy private shack, and the impressive landscaping behind the house all the way up to the top of the hill with a majestic view. All is well and the father invites him to stay for dinner. Donghwa seems to be enamoured with the beautiful surroundings and Junhee's parents' DIY house. Whenever he finds an inspiration for his poetry, he jots it down in his little notebook that he carries everywhere.

Dongwha, Junhee and her reclusive older sister (Park Miso) who might be suffering from depression, have lunch at a local restaurant by the river. Junhee's sister is not sure if Dongwha, a son of a famous TV defense attorney, working as a photographer at weddings, is as self-reliant and immaterialistic as he professes to be.

Junhee's mom (Cho Yunhee), who is also a published poet, lays out a chicken feast for the possible future son-in-law for dinner. And the conversation naturally turns interrogative. After a bit of Korean rice wine is consumed, by the encouragement of mom, Dongwha recites his terrible and naive poetry about night blooming flowers, eliciting polite responses. But it's the sister's niggling questions about his rich and famous father and whether he is truly self-reliant that sets Donghwa off. And the dinner ends in drunken outbursts and Dongwha passing out on the dinner table.

At night at his shack, the dad and mom assess Dongwha, just as any prospective in-law would - but not in definitive terms: He obviously has some deep seeded issues with his father. Junhee loves him now, but with life experience she will figure it out if they are gonna be good together. They laugh about him bombing the 'liquor test'- and if that was the dad's real intention, which he denies vehemently.

Dongwha is seen walking around at night on the hills, looking at flowers lit up by his cell phone, then tripping and falling, hurting himself.

With What Does That Nature Say to You, Hong Sangsoo sketches out another slice of life effortlessly: The awkward, funny interactions among the characters ring true as usual. The youthful idealism fades when we face the real world and responsibilities. The pursuit of truth and beauty is admirable, but it's not cute anymore when you are 35 and without a steady job. You can't guise it with junk cars, facial hair and actively not wearing glasses because you want to see the world a little bit fuzzy (a dig on Hong's own late style where things are intentionally out of focus) as your aesthetic.

Hong, as usual, is showing his cynicism toward young artistic types. It's probably because he went through that phase himself and now can look back and have a laugh.

Hands of God

Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser (1988) - Zwerlin Lucky for us jazz fans, the pioneer of Direct Cinema, Charlotte Zwerlin (co-director of Salesman & Gimme Shelter with Albert Maysles) got involved making a documentary of the jazz great, Thelonious Monk, with the candid newfound footage of Monk's 1968 European tour by the Blackwood Brothers for German television in the early 80s. Straight No Chaser is that rare filmed testament of genius at work.

They wanted to involve Monk in the film but his health was failing and eventually passed away in 1982 and the estate complication and funding problems prevented from the completion of the film until 1988 (with large thanks to Clint Eastwood, a huge fan of bebop and whose production company Malpaso Productions provided funding). The film captures the hulking, introverted, inarticulate man at work, always donning various funny hats and wire rimmed glasses, on stage and off stage. It shows his astounding composing skills - the sophistication of his arrangement and meticulous music notes on paper, and how he conveyed that to other musicians. It features his devoted wife Nellie and his relationship with the millionaire Baroness Panonnica de Koenigswarter (née Rothchild).

With interviews with family and friends, musicians and managers, we get the complicated picture of a genius who wasn't really appreciated in the beginning of his career. Just like many jazz greats in the 50s, he was targeted by cops and frequently harrassed. Jazz, for many black musicians at the time, was the freedom of expression. Monk's complex compositions weren't selling, but few afficionados in the music industry let him keep making his music. The docu tells a funny story about Monk taking the rap for his musician buddy Bud Powell on narcotics possession charges and had his permit to play suspended. And in turn Rothchild taking the rap for marijuana possession later on. It speaks about his physical ailment and mental decline - that he sometimes would not recognize people and stare at a space for moments. It also shows his jubilant on stage antics - twirling around on stage then back to his piano. Twirling around at the airport and on the streets with music always playing in his head.

It's the closeups of Monk's hands though, that god-like hands dancing energetically above the keys- creating and playing something incredible, something out of this world - real genius at work. Plus, we get to find out he was a cat lover. For Monk fans, Straight No Chaser and the recent Alain Gomis's Rewind & Play make a great double feature. Rhythm-A-Ning