I Have a Date with Spring
Na-wa-bom-nal-eui-yak-sok
Don’t be deceived by the lighthearted title. Filmmaker Baek Seungbin says he came up with this story out of a desire for a more humane society and pity for overlooked outsiders. A depressed film director sits on the banks of a lake. It’s his birthday, but that does nothing to lighten his mood. For ten years, he has been wrestling with a new script: what would a loner like him do with his last day if he knew the world would end tomorrow?
Just as he is about to throw in the towel, he hears a strange explosion and receives a visitation from four mysterious figures. They claim they are fans of his, and promise to give him a birthday present if he will read them his new script, which – coincidentally or not – is about people whose birthday falls on the day before the end of the world.
This is Baek’s frame narrative for three other stories, about a schoolgirl with no friends, an overworked housewife and an unhappy professor. All three receive an unexpected visit from someone who returns something important to them. So perhaps this unusual combination of mystery, bizarre incident and sensitive realist drama with a humorous touch is less pessimistic than the end of the world might lead us to believe. A contemporary fantasy that leaves lots of scope for interpretation.
Film details
- Country of production
- South Korea
- Year
- 2018
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2018
- Length
- 93"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
You may also like this
-
The Widowed Witch
Is there any hope in Erhao’s unfortunate life following the death of her third husband, when fellow villagers in rural China accuse her of
-
Hivos Tiger Competition
-
-
Djon África
A chance meeting sets 25-year-old Portuguese Djon África on the track of his roots in Cape Verde. He hopes to finally find his father, an adven
-
Hivos Tiger Competition
-
-
Possessed
How to be together in the age of social media? We have become obsessed with our own image and must find a new, more personal way of relating to others
-
Hivos Tiger Competition
-