1/5 Art-House Pornography (aka An Ode to a Meaningless Life)
  by Anticlimacus
Let me set the stage. I love well-crafted art-house dramas and romances from East Asia. Christmas In August (1998), One Fine Spring Day (2001), Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring (2003), Asako In Ruby Shoes (2000), Rules of Dating (2005), Art Museum By the Zoo (1998), and most of Yasujiro Ozu's films were very enjoyable to me. Add another 50 or so similar films to that recommendation list, and one could be forgiven to conclude that I not only like deliberately-paced, slow-burning art-house cinema, but I'm actually a big fan of the genre.

To date I've seen four of Sang-soo Hong's films and one thing is certain: the artistic merits of Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors (2000) was a fluke of sorts within Hong's otherwise unimpressive portfolio that treads dangerously close to mirroring something you'd see on Cinemax Late Night. A half dozen sex scenes? Check. Complete absence of character development? Check. Dull-as-dirt filler material? Check. In all honesty, there's very little (if anything) that distinguishes Hong's films from "tummy stick" fests.

Take Turning Gate as an example. A guy meets a girl, "bangs" her senseless, then stops seeing her. The same guy later meets another girl, "bangs" her senseless, then stops seeing her. The film ends. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this summary adequately covers any and all content this movie has to offer. You may wonder how on earth the running time clocks in at 115 minutes. I'll tell you. The characters walk around a lot, wait for cabs, and participate in some of the most boring conversations to ever grace celluloid.

The whole point of minimalization in film-making is to recreate the charming, intriguing scenarios that occupy everyday life while avoiding the uninteresting staleness surrounding those moments (watch an Ozu film if you can't get your head around this concept). For instance, the relationship with my first girlfriend could provide enough content for an interesting film, but a director is misguided if he thinks that showing me on the toilet for five minutes is going to provide any sort of entertainment value. Will someone please inform Tsai Ming-liang of this?

Now, Hong is not quite as bad as Tsai. He's close, but Turning Gate isn't quite the abhorrent "masterpiece" of trashiness that Viva L'Amour (1994) is. Both directors do make significant contributions to "Laundry" film-making though - which means that their focus on realism gives these hacks a free pass to make movies that are completely devoid of content or insight. For me personally, watching people pick each other up and "bang" is the equivalent of watching someone do their laundry. Hong's only good film - Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors - kept me interested in the "hunt" for two hours, which is something you can't say for his other, lesser efforts.

Let me offer a psychoanalysis of the type of person who will like this film, the title of which should probably be changed from Turning Gate to something like An Ode to a Meaningless Life. If you've had a dozen or so one-night stands and wish to reminiscence about the "good ole days", then you'll probably like this movie. I have personally tried to minimize the number of meaningless relationships in my life, so maybe I lack the prerequisites in experiencing sexual degeneracy to the point that I cannot appreciate the meaningless relationships presented in this movie.

If the director actually gave me some content to help me understand why these people live this way and how that lifestyle affects them, then I'd surely enjoy it more. One Fine Spring Day, for example, does a wonderful job of showing the emotional roller-coaster of a typical relationship from beginning to end. Unfortunately, Turning Gate (as well as most of Hong's other movies) is so devoid of content that the only people that will enjoy this movie are those who say to themselves, "Man, I yearn to remember the days when I banged a different person every week with no strings attached."

Don't misunderstand me. I love films with sex, but I need something interesting or intriguing to keep me engaged. Strange Circus (2005) had copious amounts of explicit sex, but it had psychological concepts behind them. Ardor (2002), The Isle (2000), and a few of the positively aforementioned films all had some steamy sex in them, but there was enough content that raised the experience above Playboy Channel trash. Hong ventures into that trashy realm far too often.

To close, I'd like to also communicate my displeasure with other reviewers who have imposed informative psychological content INTO the film when the filmmaker himself failed to do so. I read statements like, "It is a transposition of life, with all its ambiguities, its unaccomplished desires, its eternal quests" or "Every single spoken word has a special meaning" and think to myself, "How the hell was any of this communicated through this film?" It's a double-edged sword, I'm afraid. If someone is willing to project that much meaning into Turning Gate, then you surely must give a movie like Show Girls the same consideration.

After watching 750 East Asian films I've been able to identify the types of movies that are a waste of time. The exploitation genre (e.g., The Untold Story or Kichiku Dai Enkai) is one example. Art-house cinema is full of traps, because amongst the many amazing films within this genre there are some truly inept flops that are so unambitious and mind-numbingly awful that one simply cannot avoid an occasional pitfall here or there. I resent directors like Hong who entice me with one good entry, only to then clobber me over the head with three steaming piles of pig manure.

3/5 Long Over Due
  by jmpg
It's hard to believe that this film has just recently found a major domestic release, considering that it is actually one of director Hong Sang Soo's most accessible and more well-known films. Fans of his movies will be delighted to know that the subject matter here doesn't stray too far away from what he normally tries to present. For those just tuning into his style, it may be either be an interesting new experience or simply a complete turn off. Whichever type of audience you will fall into, there's still no doubt it will be one you'll most likely remember.

The premise of Turning Gate (whose complete title is actually On The Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate) is relatively quite simple. It centers around a man who tries getting involved with two different women but the relationships produce no real results. The situations he gets himself into make this much more than just the typical one-dimensional failed love flick. Most of the time, how the characters handle each bit of dialogue is completely unpredictable and contrary to what we may expect to happen. It may have been done before, but hardly anyone can make it as interesting or as touching as Hong does. It's definitely not your usual comedy, romance, or drama.

I actually liked it so why three stars? The reason being is because Turning Gate will most likely cause a mixed reaction between viewers. Believe me when I say you will end up either loving it or hating it. Some may find the scenarios engaging and unique, while others will be bored to tears. Even in his native Korea, there are a series of mixed reactions toward his movies. That being said, I simply cannot recommend it alone on the fact that I personally enjoyed it. The only recommendation I could make, however, is that if you're just plain curious about the film (whether or not you are familiar with the director's works) then check it out and make up your own mind. Who knows. You may find it to be a diamond in the rough of a movie that is to your tastes.