Hong is largely seen as a master of the essay art films. The film, Night and Day, follows an artist, Kim Seong-nam’s journey in Paris after escaping the Korean government and leaving his wife behind. The film references three common themes of Hong’s style; an artist as a protagonist, an aspect of rebellion, and travel as an excursion. In the film, the artist’s escape from Paris as a result of using Marijuana represents deviance. The film uses romance as a style to further augment the character’s experience. The movie, Night and Day (2008) has much to portray about Hong’s style. First, despite it reflecting much of his traditional style, it does bring out more adventure and variety in experiences. However, it is still strongly reflective of Hong’s characteristic tendency to create a strong connection between him and the characters in the film. It highlights an artist, whose travel unintentionally turns into an art excursion, by unprecedentedly meeting other artists through friends. …show more content…
Korean film contemporary combines traditional styles of fiction and myth with modern blockbuster attributes such as spectacles and actions, whereas Hong’s Night and Day reflects consistency with the conservative drama-comedy style. Hong does not create graphic scenes of sophisticated modern day life, he simply reflects on the life of an artist in less than aggressive way, in a manner consistent with less than a modern fictional dimension. Night and Day doesn’t reflect a shift into the contemporary Korean style, which affirms the belief by scholar’s that Hong is hardly an influence in the contemporary Korean film (Raymond 27). However, his films contain touching and relatable moments to human relationships, and that’s rare to find in a world of spectacles