Uriwa sanggwaneopsi

A resonant examination of the relational, Yoo Heong-jun’s clever and considered URIWA SANGGWANEOPSI (Regardless of Us) is one of this year’s auspicious debuts. Troubling connections between the spoken and unspoken, an event and its retelling and fiction and reality, the film’s philosophical inquiries into the nature of recto and verso are mirrored in its sly, bifurcated structure.

Recovering from a stroke, the middle-aged actress Hwa-ryeong receives a string of visits from collaborators on a new film. Alongside well-wishes, the guests share fragmentary details of its plot and its recent premiere alongside revelations of previously unspoken sentiments. From here the film shifts to its second half. Centered on an actress played by Cho – now nameless – figures from the earlier scenes reappear, their relations now wholly reoriented, with any correspondence to everything we’ve seen before left open to interpretation, interrogation and speculation. Shot in black and white with a tendency towards long takes, URIWA SANGGWANEOPSI is admirably understated and spacious, leaving room for Yoo’s finely calibrated script, equally precise performances, and the reflections that both invite. (Jesse Cumming)