Jeonim (Kim Min-hee) is in a predicament. An art instructor at a Seoul university, she’s been put in charge of her department’s contribution to the school’s annual sketch festival. It was going so well: Her group had a director (Ha Seong-guk), a script, and a full cast in place. However, after a scandal rocked the production, the director departed, along with half the volunteer performers. Now Jeonim has to find a replacement director and a new skit, and also somehow carve out time to rehearse with the four remaining actors … all in the next 10 days. This being a Hong Sang-soo film, the mess at the center of By the Stream is nothing too serious. Even so, with nowhere else to turn to and the event less than a couple of weeks away, Jeonim reaches out to her estranged uncle, Sieon (Kwon Hae-hyo), a once-famous, now-disgraced actor she hasn’t seen in 10 years.
He writes up a scene — a short exchange between a foursome that’s ostensibly about noodles — and presents it to the artists-turned-actresses. They reluctantly decide to move forward with Sieon’s idea, although they all agree it’ll be a challenge on such short notice. Outside of run-throughs, Jeonim and Sieon spend their time with Jeong (Cho Yun-hee), Jeonim’s superior who first got her a job in academia and has served as her mentor ever since. As it turns out, Jeong is a big fan of Sieon’s work … and not just the major works. Her appreciation runs deep. So deep, in fact, that the two seem to be developing feelings for one another over the course of their shared meals and (for the filmmaker’s devotees, it practically goes without saying) bottles of wine.
Fall foliage, foggy valleys, wet leaves, and cozy wardrobes make By the Stream an instant autumnal classic in the Hong oeuvre. As has been the case with other seasonal entries in his catalog – we’ve seen that he loves a walk in the snow just as much as a trip to the beach – this embrace of a meteorological vibe isn’t solely for looks: These characters are at a moment of transition themselves. Although this changeover precedes a dark and lonely winter, the coming spring rewards those who endure with an opportunity to bud and blossom again. Jeonim can do nothing but watch as her newly mended relationship with her uncle leads to him taking her spot beside her close friend Jeong, the color in her life defoliating. Meanwhile, Sieon’s long chill appears to be thawing, finally reuniting with family and exploring a potential romance for the first time since being iced out.
All of this can (and should!) be appreciated without needing to peel back the curtain and reveal what’s happening off-camera, but with Hong, this exercise can be especially rewarding. The 64-year-old has grown increasingly forthright since taking full creative control of virtually every aspect of his productions from 2021 on, and, seven films later, By the Stream feels particularly vulnerable. Both Kim Min-hee and Kwon Hae-hyo have faced ostracization in recent years: the former for entering into an affair with Hong, recently resulting in the birth of their child, and the latter for his staunch political activism. Hong’s unwavering allegiance to his troupe is commendable, to be sure, but leave it to him to go beyond simply continuing to cast them: In Kwon’s case, it makes up a sizable part of both his character’s motivations in By the Stream and the film’s overall story. Don’t call it Hong’s take on contemporary neo-McCarthyist blacklisting or cancel culture, but it’s certainly something that exists and is a cause for concern for the artists within its world.
Whether you’ve seen none or all of Hong Sang-soo’s 30-plus films and counting – he has two more finished that’ve yet to arrive Stateside and has averaged as many per year since ramping up his output in 2021 – his projects have a way of subduing the viewer through leisurely walks and casual conversations about art and life over dinner and drinks, only to pull the rug with an emotionally charged turn of events. By the Stream is no exception, but by broadening his scope to account for more than just his own treasure trove of unique experience as a creative, allowing for Kim and Kwan’s stories to be represented on the screen as well, Hong puts a poignant spin on his tried-and-true techniques.
By the Stream screens nightly at 7:30 p.m. on Sep. 18 and 27-28 at the Webster University Film Series.
