Two of the most popular filmmakers in the (European) festival circuit are undoubtedly Hong Sang-soo and Lav Diaz, with their movies finding screenings throughout the world, occasionally just due to their name. However, their style of filmmaking is radically different, also because the Filipino tends to stretch his movies to a number of hours, while the Korean, even more so lately, rarely moves beyond the 100 minutes limit. So, what would happen if someone combined these two? The answer comes from Lee Wan-min's “Archaeology of Love”, a Korean-French co-production that is heavily influenced by HHS, but does stretch to 162 minutes.
“Archaeology of Love” screened at Helsinki Cine Aasia
Starting essentially as soon as Young-sil, an archaeologist, leaves her teaching job for an excavation, the movie unfolds in flashbacks that revolve around two love stories she experiences. In the first, which took place 8 years before, she becomes lovers with In-sik eight hours after they meet, with his grand declarations of his feelings bounding to him and his “crossing-the-line”, exploitative love. The second relationship involves Woo-do, a man who is radically different from In-sik, but she has to face her trauma and a bond that seems unbreakable.
The Hong Sang-soo elements become apparent from the beginning, with the dialogue-heavy narrative, the presentation of unremarkable everyday life, the many meetings over drinks and food, and the fact that men are presented largely as creeps in most of the cases. In that fashion, the intriguing aspects of the movie are essentially two. The first is In-seek's attitude from the beginning of their relationship, with him overstepping boundaries from the get-go, before his attitude becomes more needy and abusive, although in verbal and psychological terms, not physical. The way his demeanor impacts Young-sil for years, even after their break up, is a testament to her character essentially, with Lee Wan-min, however, eventually finding a solution that is quite common in romantic (?) films directed by women.
The second element is the concept of archaeology, with Lee exploring it quite thoroughly throughout the movie, particularly from the perspective of the independent researcher. As such, teaching, working in excavations and the conservation that follows any discovery are all examined here, through an approach that suggests a rather intense research on the part of the director.
At the same time, though, and despite the interesting comments presented, there is definitely not enough substance here to justify the excessive duration, with the movie becoming very hard to follow after a point, not because the narrative is convoluted, but just because it is too much of the same thing. Of course, art-house films are not exactly famous for their “action” (events or episodes if you prefer) but Lee definitely loses her sense of measure after a point, with the rather slow pace not helping particularly in that regard.
On the other hand, Kim Ji-hyun's cinematography is excellent, especially in the various long shots in the excavation sites, which are rather appealing to the eye. The rest of the visuals focus on realism, but the framing, which frequently resembles that of mobile phones or tablets' screens, does remain intriguing throughout the movie.
Lastly, the acting is also on a very high level. Ok Ja-yeon as Yeong-sil and Han Gi-yoon as In-sik retain an admirable sense of measure even in the scenes where the tension is palpable, with their chemistry being one of the best assets of the movie.
“Archaeology of Love” will probably appeal to (female) film buffs and festival goers, and there are a number of positive aspects throughout the movie, but what remains in the end, is a title that is too long for its own good.
