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.
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