A Pilgrimage to Cinema

When I read an initial review of the Korean film HOPE (2026) after its premiere at the Cannes International Film Festival as part of the Main Competition last May, I immediately got into thinking that Na Hong-jin could win the Best Director prize, following in the footsteps of fellow Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook (this year’s jury president, by the way) who won the prize for the Hitchcockian DECISION TO LEAVE four years ago. It would such be a welcome news, I thought, as Na Hong-jin is such a daring and engaging storyteller. He’s one of my favorite Korean filmmakers, as a matter of fact.  HOPE is just Na Hong-jin’s fourth feature, but each of his succeeding films turns out to be bolder and more ambitious than the previous one, like, say, the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. But then, the Cannes Best Director prize was eventually handed to a couple of other films. That is, THE BLACK BALL, directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, and FATHERLAND, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski (hi...

In cinema, a typical scenario of a young unrequited first love goes something like this: Two teeners develop tender feelings for each other for the first time; the challenge is that either one of them or both can’t say it out loud. If they do, there are some reservations. In that regard, the Dutch film JONGENS (𝘉𝘰𝘺𝘴, 2014), directed by Mischa Kamp, can be said to have a rather simple and familiar story. In this film, we have two aspiring teenage track-and-field athletes, Sieg (Gijs Blom) and Marc (Ko Zandvilet), who happen to meet during one of their trainings. Immediately, sparks fly between the two boys. Though each has a somewhat different way of approaching their budding tender feelings. Sieg is quiet and reserved, more inclined to keep in check a possible romance and to steal some glances instead from afar. While Marc is outgoing and expressive, more than willing to let the other boy know of his growing feelings. Of course, it won’t really require some second-guessing regardin...