“Nowhere to Lay My Eyes”: Hong Sang-soo’s refined minimalism
The new film by the renowned South Korean director, who previously won the Pardo d’Oro in 2015, is in competition at the Locarno Film Festival
Will Hong Sang-soo win another award at Locarno? The renowned South Korean director returns for the fifth time to the competition at the Swiss festival with “Nowhere to Lay My Eyes” and is aiming to add another award to his collection.
Her first time competing at Locarno was in 2013 with *Our Sunhi*, when she won the Best Director award, followed by her victory at the Pardo d’Oro in 2015 with *Right Now, Wrong Then* and two further appearances: in 2018 with the beautiful “Hotel By the River” (undoubtedly one of the highlights of her now thirty-year career) and in 2024 with “By the Stream”.
Hong, who has always been extremely prolific, had already presented another film (“The Day She Returns”) at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, and it is worth noting that the director is currently enjoying a real high point in his career, having recently produced several highly successful films: one need only think, in this regard, of “What Does That Nature Say To You” from 2025.
The lead in *Nowhere to Lay My Eyes* is his muse and partner Kim Min-hee, an actress who has appeared in many of his films; here she plays Sanghee, a woman who, together with her brother, goes to visit her mother on Jeju Island, a place they haven’t returned to for ten years. Her mother’s restaurant has been a success; Sanghee’s stepfather is shooting a film about a ‘grassy grave’; and his daughter has taken up painting. They exchange anecdotes, useless advice and facile compliments. On the morning Sanghee leaves the house to shoot some footage with her video camera, the rest of the family sit down to watch one of her films.
Hong Sang-soo’s style remains as minimalist as ever, with camera movements kept to a minimum and dialogue that is, on the surface, very simple, yet capable of offering insights of great depth.
