''Woman Is the Future of Man'' () is a 2004 South Korean film directed by

Hong Sang-soo Hong Sang-soo (Korean language, Korean: 홍상수; born 25 October 1960) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. An acclaimed and prolific filmmaker, Hong is known for his Slow cinema, slow-paced films about love affairs and everyday d ...

. The film was not a box-office hit, but was entered in the competition category of the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 2004. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino served as jury president for the main competition. While American filmmaker Michael Moore won the Palme d'Or for the documentary film '' Fahrenh ...

and received screenings at several other festivals. The title of the film is a translation of a line from a poem by

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

that the director saw printed on a

French postcard A French postcard is a small, postcard-sized piece of cardstock featuring a photograph of a nude or semi-nude woman; the term is mainly American. Such erotic cards were produced in great volume, primarily in France, in the late 19th and early 2 ...

Storyline

The plot revolves loosely around two old friends: Lee Mun-ho (

Yoo Ji-tae Yoo Ji-tae (; born April 13, 1976) is a South Korean actor. After a stint as a fashion model, Yoo launched his acting career in 1998 then rose to fame through the films '' Attack the Gas Station'' (1999) and '' Ditto'' (2000). In the succeeding ...

), a university art teacher and Kim Hyeon-gon ( Kim Tae-woo), a graduate from an American film school who has recently returned to his home country. While having dinner in a restaurant, Kim convinces Lee to arrange a meeting between them and Kim's old girlfriend Park Seon-hwa (

Sung Hyun-ah Sung Hyun-ah (; born July 23, 1975) is a South Korean actress and beauty pageant titleholder who placed 2nd runner-up at Miss Korea 1994. Biography Sung Hyun-ah placed second runner-up (or third place) at the Miss Korea pageant in 1994. She w ...

). Unbeknownst to Kim, however, Lee had become involved in a relationship with her after Kim's departure to the United States. The three meet for a night of drinking, as past tensions and attractions reemerge. In the end, both self-centered men abandon Park as they had years ago.

Production

''Woman Is the Future of Man'' was co-financed by South Korean production companies UniKorea and Miracin Korea, and French producer

Marin Karmitz Marin Karmitz (born 7 October 1938) is a Romanian-French businessman whose career has spanned the French film industry, including director, producer, film distributor, and operator of a chain of cinemas. He comes from a Jewish-Romanian family ...

's company MK2. It was given a production budget of US$1.3 million. It was the fifth feature-length film directed by Hong Sang-soo, who also wrote the screenplay.

Release

The film was released in South Korea on May 5, 2004. It didn't enjoy a particularly successful theatrical run; the total attendance figure of 284,872 ranked it 46th out of 75 domestic feature-length releases in the country in 2004. The film was screened alongside another South Korean film, '' Oldboy'', at the competition category of the

, marking the first time that two films from the country were in the competition simultaneously. Yoo Ji-tae played parts in both films; he had the role of the main antagonist in ''Oldboy''. Unlike ''Oldboy'', ''Woman Is the Future of Man'' did not win any of the awards and reportedly met with a mostly unenthusiastic reception. It was the third film of director Hong Sang-soo to be screened in Cannes, following '' The Power of Kangwon Province'' (1998) and '' Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors'' (2000), and the first to be entered in the competition category. In 2005 Hong's next film, '' Tale of Cinema'', also competed in Cannes. The film was also screened at the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

, the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

, the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

, the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

and the

Pusan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held from ...

Reception

Critics gave mixed to positive reviews for the film. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 80%, based on 20 reviews, and an average rating of 6.9/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis ( ) is an American film critic. She is the chief film critic for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', Dargis ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', reviewing the film during the New York Film Festival, called it "intellectually stimulating ndaesthetically bold", and mentioned its suitability for an art-house crowd. Duane Byrge of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' was less positive, calling the film amateurish, a dud compositionally and accused the story of being plodding.

References

External links

* * * * {{Hong Sang-soo 2004 films 2004 romantic drama films Films directed by Hong Sang-soo South Korean independent films 2000s Korean-language films South Korean romantic drama films Films produced by Marin Karmitz 2004 independent films 2000s South Korean films