In his ninth film for Hong Sangsoo, Kwon Haehyo plays Byungsoo, a film director who goes with his daughter Jeongsu (Park Miso), an aspiring interior designer, to a building owned by an old friend (Lee Hyeyoung) already established in the design field. She gives them a tour of the property, which includes a restaurant and cooking studio on the first two floors, her office in the basement, a residence on the third floor and an artist’s studio at the top. The three of them amicably chat the day away. But when his daughter leaves to get more wine, Byungsoo is left to spend time with the landlord and the other residents of her building. With Walk Up, Hong Sangsoo returns to an interest in structure that has been a defining characteristic of his work from the beginning. And this time the structure is a literal one. As Byunsgoo makes his way up the floors of the building, Hong fills these spaces with a profusion of everyday details spanning art, love, career, religion, dietary decisions and home renovations.
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Finding the profound in the quotidian, master filmmaker Hong Sangsoo’s latest work is a poetic, humanist tale told at a measured pace against the backdrop of our accelerated reality of 21st century lifestyle. A renowned film director and his adult daughter meet with a longtime designer friend who shows them her renovated four-storey ‘walk up.’ As they tour the exquisite building, there is conversation, wine, and quiet reflection on the state of the world, on the pandemic, and even on contemporary filmmaking itself. Gentle and meditative, WALK UP is a paean to intelligence, compassion, and human communication.
Tom McSorley (Executive Director, International Film Festival of Ottawa)