Woman Is the Future of Man Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Woman Is the Future of Man Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 19, 2018

Note: This film is available as part of Woman Is the Future of Man + Tale of Cinema: Two Films by Hong Sangsoo.

Is Arrow Video holding Tony Rayns hostage? Rayns, inerrantly cheery as usual (Stockholm Syndrome?), is back again on another Arrow release offering an overview of both Hong Sang-soo’s filmography in general as well as Woman is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema in particular, and it’s perhaps salient to note that Rayns starts out his supplementary analysis by stating that Hong is virtually unknown in the United Kingdom (as happens quite often with Arrow releases, Arrow Academy has brought out Woman is the Future of Man + Tale of Cinema: Two Films by Hong Sangsoo in the UK more or less simultaneously with this domestic release, and so some of Rayns' statements seem aimed at a British audience). My hunch is as unknown as Hong may very well be on that side of the pond, he’s probably even less recognized on this side of the pond, but as Rayns more or less alludes to in his comments, there may be no better place to start getting to know this interesting South Korean auteur than with the two films Arrow has compiled for this release.

Can it be a “real” ménage à trois if all three people involved may not know about each other’s involvement with the other(s)? Both Woman is the Future of Man and its cohort Tale of Cinema hinge at least in part on old friends getting reacquainted with each other, but Woman is the Future of Man deals with three folks instead of only two, with two male friends reconnecting and a mutual female friend of both of them figuring into the plot proceedings. Kim Hyeon-gon (Kim Tae-woo) is a Korean film student who has been studying abroad in America who has returned to his native country and looks up Lee Mun-ho (Yoo Ji-tae), who kind of strangely keeps Kim from entering Lee's house and meeting his wife. The two instead go to a nearby diner, where talk soon turns to Kim's former girlfriend Park Seon-hwa (Sung Hyun-ah).

Though there are certain secrets which are kept hidden, at least for a little while, ultimately things do get to a “real” threesome, at least in one sense, with the trio reuniting, which is when tensions begin to spill out as revelations come to the surface. Woman is the Future of Man is a somewhat static, relentlessly talky, piece of filmmaking, but it delivers some interesting subtext and provides insight into the passions that tend to inform a lot of younger relationships, as seemingly irrational as those passions can be at times. That static aspect may keep the film from attaining any real catharsis emotionally, but that element may be the same sort of illusion that makes a calm ocean surface mask a riptide.

Woman Is the Future of Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Woman is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema are presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.85:1 (Woman is the Future of Man) and 1.86:1 (Tale of Cinema). Arrow's insert booklet contains the following fairly generic information on the transfers:

Woman is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema are presented in their original aspect ratios of 1.85:1 [sic] with optional 2.0 and 5.1 audio. The masters were preared in High Definition by MK2 and delivered to Arrow Films.

Woman is the Future of Man has a somewhat blanched appearance some of the time, with a palette that tends to perk up in fits and starts. That said, detail levels are quite good throughout the presentation, beginning with the kind of burlap like backing that underlays the opening credits. The wintry ambience of the opening and interstitial sequences tends to give a kind of whitish-gray look a lot of time, something that can actually help pops of color on outfits perhaps look more vivid than they would otherwise. Some of the flashback material actually provides a substantially warmer looking palette, with good saturation levels and decent fine detail, even in some midrange shots. Grain is somewhat variable throughout the presentation, and there are occasional clarity and compression variances as well (see screenshots 13 and 14 for one of the more problematic sequences).

Woman Is the Future of Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both Woman is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema feature DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and 5.1 tracks in the original Korean. Both films have somewhat anachronistic scores, and both of the scores open up quite a bit on the respective surround tracks, with at least somewhat fuller sounding mid- and lower ranges. Both films feature a glut of ambient environmental noise in various urban locations, and the surround tracks help to support the realism of those sequences as well. All of that said, both of these films aren't especially ambitious in their sound design, and both feature rather long sections that are pretty static with nothing but dialogue, and so the differences between the stereo and surround tracks are arguably fairly minimal at times.

Woman Is the Future of Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow is offering both of Woman is the Future of Man and Tale of Cinema together on one disc, and kind of interestingly has authored the disc so that separate special features appear after each film is chosen.

Choosing Woman is the Future of Man offers the following supplements:

• Introduction to Woman is the Future of Man by Martin Scorsese (1080i; 2:32) offers the legendary director ticking off a laundry list of Korean directors before mentioning how special Hong's films have been for him. He gives a brief plot summary as well as some thematic analyses.


• Introduction by Tony Rayns (1080p; 42:05) is another well done summary by Rayns, who gives some biographical and filmographical background on Hong before diving into an analysis of Woman is the Future of Man.


• The Making of Woman is the Future of Man (1080i; 38:16) is an archival piece with some interesting footage of shots being filmed and Hong giving direction to the actors.


• Interviews with the Actors are in Korean with English subtitles and come with brief (like 5 second) text introductions which have kind of strangely been authored as separate chapters:

  Kim Taewoo (1080i; 7:47)

  Sung Hyunah (1080i; 18:29)

  Yoo Jitae (1080i; 5:40)

• Original Trailers

  Korean Trailer One (1080i; 1:47)

  
  

  Korean Theatrical Trailer Two (1080i; 1:54)

  
  

  French Teaser One (1080p; 00:56)

  
  

  French Teaser Two (1080p; 1:11)
  

• Stills Gallery (1080p; 1:50)

Woman Is the Future of Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As Michael Sicinski mentions in his interesting essay included in the insert booklet included with this release, Hong's film have a lot of scenes of people sitting around tables eating and talking (just take a look at the screenshots from both films to get an idea of how many sequences feature this approach), and there is certainly a somewhat static feeling that this film in particular attains from such a stylistic conceit. I'm not sure this film really builds to the climax it seems to be aiming for, but on a more intimate level it delivers some really interesting insight into three characters whose lives have interwoven in ways that perhaps all three of them don't fully understand. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.