Keuk jang jeon

The fact that cult Korean director Hong Sang-soo's TALE OF CINEMA (Korea 2005) is featured in the "Decadent Editions" series published by Fireflies Press, which explores the cinema of the first 10 years of the 21st century by dedicating a whole book to one film each year - makes immediate sense: After all, Hong's unique oeuvre is one of the milestones of contemporary cinema. The way that author Dennis Lim addresses TALE OF CINEMA in his essay - making connections to Roland Barthes, Robert Bresson, John Cassavetes, David Lynch, and Paul Cézanne for example - while at the same time providing an analysis of Hong's extensive filmography, is constantly surprising and a delight to read. Hong's meta-film about cinema and life, in which a young man begins a relationship with his ex-girlfriend and a director develops an obsession with the female lead of a film whom he meets outside the cinema after its screening, will be screened after an introductory conversation with Dennis Lim. (Birgit Kohler)