Hong Sang-soo and the film essay

Abstract

Using the recent work of Timothy Corrigan on the film essay, this paper analyzes Hong Sang-soo's films as essays in order to open up different avenues of understanding of both his individual films and his work as a whole. All of the essayistic elements identified by Corrigan have coalesced in Hong's most recent films, which deemphasize the narrative puzzles of his earlier work in order to become more personal examinations of his own position as a filmmaker. Hong's formalism has gradually turned from the subjectivity of his characters to the place of Hong himself in relation to both his films and his audience. It is through examining Hong's films as essays that this relationship is both explained and explored.