Berlinale Dispatch. Ad Lib Night.

When Lee Yoon-ki's debut feature, This Charming Girl, screened in the Forum section of the Berlinale in 2005, Filmbrain recommended it, I caught it and was exceedingly glad. Dispatching from Busan later that same year, Adam Hartzell was somewhat disappointed in Lee's second feature, Love Talk, but last October, he was far more upbeat on the third, Ad Lib Night. I may be even more upbeat on this one than Adam.

It's difficult to think of another director who strikes such a subtly beguiling balance of a loneliness so ingrained in his characters they're hardly aware of it anymore - and comedy. Though Aki Kaurismäki and Jim Jarmusch toy with the same components, they're miles and miles away from the territory Lee takes us to.

An example that tops even the scene in Charming that has the Girl peeking in on the kitten under her sofa and wordlessly wondering when or if it'll ever come out is Ad Lib's opening set-up, an absurdity rendered in the most fragile naturalism imaginable. This film's Girl (the name of the character played by Han Hyo-joo isn't revealed until the end, as she begins a journey back to her actual identity) is mistaken for the daughter of a dying man, a daughter the man's family has been looking for so desperately and so long they ask the Girl to come with them and essentially play the daughter. Just for a moment; she'll have only one crucial line to speak.

Adapted from a story by Japanese novelist Taira Azuko, the trek from and back to Seoul plays out over a single night, and when we arrive in the village, the fluorescent interior of the dying man's house sheds unflattering light on the bickering family of distinct, often humorous but always believable characters and stands, too, in stark contrast to the beauty of the HD cinematography of the car rides that bookend the piece.

I don't want to reduce this fine work to "families are hell, but not having one is worse," but at the same time, dwelling on what happens when would be beside the point as well. The point would be found closer to the respect and empathy Lee shows for characters who didn't even know that's what they were looking for.

Posted by dwhudson at February 8, 2007 1:56 PM