[HanCinema's Film Review] "By the Stream"

For nearly his whole career, writer/director Hong Sang-soo has made films about pathetic men in artistic circles and the women who inexplicably love them. Somehow, he always comes up with a distinct variation on this theme, and "By the Stream" is no exception. Jeon-im (played by Kim Min-hee) is a forty-something professor who neither loves nor is loved by pathetic men. But Jeon-im does meet them, when she calls up her uncle Si-eon (played Kwon Hae-hyo) to put together a substitute skit for a class when the professor for that class, unnamed and played by Ha Seong-guk, is fired for philandering.

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If you're familiar with Hong Sang-soo films, "By the Stream" is a simple perspective flip of the usual premise. Si-eon and the professor are the more obvious candidates for lead characters, but since the viewer only sees them through Jeon-im's perspective, their petty internal monologues are only implied, never actually stated. Si-eon benefits tremendously from this approach- he's a fairly famous entertainment industry professional, and Jeon-im clearly respects him.

The philandering professor, not so much. He's on-screen so little is why his name is never completely clear, and for the bulk of his two appearances he's stuck awkwardly trying to explain how and why he's even on campus at all when his entry credentials have been revoked. At one point Si-eon and the professor have an offscreen conversation- but whatever they talk about isn't made all that clear, and Jeon-im doesn't care enough to inquire later.

What Jeon-im does care about is the emotional condition of her students, who are reluctant to discuss what exactly happened. Yet Si-eon, of all people, in a late scene, is able to get them to express their vulnerabilities when he discusses his real reasons for helping them put on the skit. What had been to Jeon-im, all along, a fairly mundane favor, was a sort of elaborate redemption narrative for Si-eon.

As the people around her break apart discussing the importance of being loved, Jeon-im genuinely seems to have trouble relating to them, and it's hard to blame her. In Jeon-im's own life, she's disinterested in romantic entanglements and perfectly happy with her career. Although it's not always completely obvious what Jeon-im actually teaches, we do get to see some of Jeon-im's art, and it's clearly a craft she takes seriously, even if she doesn't generally see much point in explaining her motivation.

In this way, Si-eon's final conversation with Jeon-im feels like a warning. Yet Jeon-im's final conversation with Si-eon feels like her only just finally understanding how lonely her uncle really is, despite his fame. It's easy to see both sides, if you're familiar with Hong Sang-soo's other work. But even if you're not, "By the Stream" is fairly engaging as a story about an artistic professional navigating departmental politics at the university, despite these politics having very little to do with her directly.

Written by William Schwartz

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"By the Stream" is directed by Hong Sang-soo, and features Kim Min-hee, Kwon Hae-hyo, Jo Yoon-hee-I, Ha Seong-guk, Kang So-yi, Park Han-bit-na-ra. Release date in Korea: 2024/09/18.