Contrary to the many Korean films I have seen lately, in which the originality, the creativity, the excellence of the stories and the great representations generally prevail, in this film all these aspects fell short of my expectations. I expected a lot more, not least because the little synopsis I read about the film was quite promising. In recent times, this was the first Korean film that deceived me. I did not feel special empathy for any character and found the performances at a level below what is normal for Korean actors and actresses.

Too bad that reading the back cover of the Grasshopper blu ray reveals as much of the plot as it does. Thankfully the rewards of this film stem from the execution: whereas the two principles in the first rendering seem flawed, and the director cruel and manipulative, and the girl sad and naïve, the second take shows the two in a much better light. When the director embarrasses his hosts, the outcome is much different, as is the aftermath of the lecture the director has come to deliver.Having seen so many action jammed films from Korea - which are so chauvinistic - it is interesting to see Koreans portrayed as quiet, conservative and relentlessly polite in observing the ceremonies of their society. Sounds like we Canadians! Suwon does exist, and there is a lot to do there as a tourist.The film is recommended for those who relish Asian film; I hope that your local library carries this film, too.Simon in Victoria, BC

I went in with low expectations, based on reviews I read, because I couldn't get in for the movie I was actually planning to watch. But it turned out to be one of the more satisfying movies I was able to catch at MAMI 2015. It's a little love story, sort of, told twice. A famous director of art-house cinema is killing time in a sleepy Korean town by visiting the one local attraction, a Palace turned into a museum. A scheduling mix has caused him to reach a day early for a planned lecture at the local film festival (yea, lot of self-referential stuff). He chats up a young woman who has given up a modeling career to become an artist. The events that follow unfold over the course of the day and the next, until his lecture and return to Seoul.There are subtle variations in how events unfold causing the male protagonist to fall flat on his face in the first telling ('Wrong then') but coming to a more fulfilling culmination in the second sequence ('Right now'). He's a cad, but the second time around, turns out to be a lovable one.Don't have too many expectations, and you will find a sweet movie.

This film won the Golden Leopard (Best Film award) at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival. By mistake, a film director arrives in a town a day early to attend a screening of one of his films. With time to kill, he strikes up a conversation with an aspiring painter who he meets in a temple and they spend the rest of the day together. Although he finds her attractive, she is considerably younger than him and neither of them are particularly outgoing. A bit like Sliding Doors or Kieslowski's Blind Chance, the film splits into two different versions of what happens over the next 24 hours but, unlike those two films, the outcome depends not so much on chance but on how the main character chooses to behave. Any further info would inevitably contain spoilers so let's just say that it reminded me of some of Erich Roemer's films and is a sort of moral tale. Whether or not you will like Right Now, Wrong Then will probably depend on what you think of the dialogue, which pretty much dominates (there is not much action and little in the way of visuals or soundtrack). In my view, it is almost a really good film but the script needed sharpening up, as my attention started wandering off more than once. Perhaps a bit more humour and a slightly faster pace would have helped, However, it is a thought-provoking film and I found it ultimately satisfying when it ended, which is why I give it 7/10.