Hong Sang-soo's 2012 character study centers on an acting student (charming model and actress Jung Eun-chae in her third leading role) who can't help attracting male attention--and with her nondescript apparel, she isn't exactly going out of her way to do so. Whether it's a professor, a fellow student, or a stranger at a bookshop, they all clamor for her attention, even if they don't always have much to give in return.
Haewon lives with her unseen father and longs to live on her own, except she doesn't yet have the means. As Nobody's Daughter Haewon begins, her self-absorbed mother, Jin-joo (Kim Ja-ok), is preparing a move to Canada to live with her brother. Though Jin-joo looks forward to hosting her daughter, she has no intention of returning to Korea.
In the opening sequence, Haewon runs into actress Jane Birkin (as herself), looking for directions on the streets of Seoul. Haewon tells her how much she admires her. Jane says she reminds her of her daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and encourages her to look her up if she's ever in Paris (in 2012, Hong worked with another French-speaking actress, Isabelle Huppert, in In Another Country and Claire's Camera). Though it plays realistically, this sequence reveals itself as a daydream.
Haewon next meets up with Jin-joo for a final neighborhood stroll. Her mother suggests she enter the Miss Korea pageant--with her looks, she would probably do well. At a bookshop, they chat with a young man before going their separate ways. Though the fellow seems smitten with Haewon, he never reappears. On a subsequent trip to the shop, a visiting professor from San Diego (Kim Eui-sung) says he's looking to marry a woman like her. It says something about Haewon's mental state that she humors this presumptuous fellow--who name-drops Martin Scorsese--and gives him her contact information.
Haewon next meets up with married film professor Seong-jun (Lee Sun-kyun from Oki's Movie and Our Sunhi). She tells him she feels lonely, and they end up sharing a discomforting dinner with several classmates who suspect an affair and resent both parties for their involvement. Behind her back, they also criticize Haewon's mixed-race heritage and upper-class background.
Haewon and Seong-jun reconnect to walk around Fort Namhan Park, a historic mountain fortress, on their own and with another couple. Though they declare their love for each other, jealousy gets the best of him and neither outing ends well.
Nobody's Daughter Haewon never sinks into despair, despite intimations of depression and potential alcoholism as Haewon skips enough classes to risk expulsion, drinks too much, and falls asleep in the college library whenever she attempts to study.
As Jung plays her, she's sympathetic, but as Hong wrote her, Haewon could just as easily end up a bored housewife as a creatively fulfilled actress. Though the film struck some critics as scattered, a narrative in which dreams and waking life entwine reflects Haewon's approach to adulthood she's struggling to navigate, largely on her own.
Where does this title belong on library shelves?
Nobody's Daughter Haewon belongs on Korean and foreign film shelves in academic and public libraries with other titles by Hong Sang-soo. It's available individually and as part of a three Blu-ray set with Oki's Movie and Our Sunhi.
What kind of film series could use this title?
Hong's 14th feature would fit with a series of his films about women, like 2012's In Another Country with Isabelle Huppert and 2022's The Novelist's Film with Lee Hye-young, as well as a wider survey of contemporary Korean cinema.
What type of instructors will use this title?
Nobody's Daughter Haewon offers insights into life for young women in 21st-century Korea that may hold appeal for college-level instructors on Asian film and culture, especially those seeking something accessible and engaging.