In Another Country

The film follows Won-joo (played by Jung Yu-mi), a young film student, and her mother Park Sook (portrayed by Youn Yuh-jung), as they try to evade their creditors in the quaint seaside town of Mohang, located in Buan, North Jeolla. Feeling restless, Won-joo embarks on a creative journey to write a screenplay that will incorporate their current surroundings. Interestingly, she ends up drafting three different narratives, all rooted in the same foundational concept.

In each of these variations, the central character is a charismatic French visitor named Anne (played by Isabelle Huppert). In the first segment, Anne is a renowned filmmaker visiting a Korean director Jong-soo (played by Kwon Hae-hyo) and his heavily pregnant and envious wife Geum-hee (portrayed by Moon So-ri). The second narrative presents her as the spouse of a French motor company executive, arriving at the same guesthouse to rendezvous with her lover, a Korean filmmaker named Moon-soo (played by Moon Sung-keun). In the third tale, she is a divorced housewife arriving for some solace alongside her friend Park Soon (again featuring Youn Yuh-jung) after her husband leaves her for a younger Korean secretary.

Themes of infidelity weave through each storyline, alongside the presence of a brawny but somewhat dim lifeguard (played by Yoo Jun-sang), whom Anne encounters during her beach walks while searching for a mini-lighthouse in all three episodes.

As various Annes engage with the locals, including Won-joo, who works at Anne’s lodging and assists in guiding her around, certain expressions, scenarios, and pieces of dialogue reappear, each time transforming in their significance and intent depending on the context and manner in which they are delivered.

Last Updated: November 16, 2024 at 11:22