Turning Gate

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Movie: On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate / Turning Gate
Revised romanization: Saenghwalui balgyeon
Hangul: 생활의 발견
Director: Hong Sang-Soo
Writer: Hong Sang-Soo
Producer:
Cinematography:
Release Date: March 22, 2002
Runtime: 115 min.
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

In the dreary and rigid city of Seoul, there lives a guy in the dumps. His name is Gyung-soo and he's an actor who's fairly well-known on stage. He trusted a director he knew well and acted in his movie, but it flopped. He persistently insisted on receiving his actor's fee, but all he got was a mere grand's worth. He also misses out on his chance to act in the next role he promised to do. The future looks cloudy for him.

Gyung-soo goes down to Choonchun City to meet an old friend who's a writer. They go out to the town and Gyung-soo's friend introduces him to a pretty and well-curved dancer named Myung-sook. After having a drink with Gyung-soo and his friend, she suddenly hits on Gyung-soo and on the spur of the moment they hit it off and go to a motel. But no one knew that Gyung-soo's writer friend liked Myung-soo even though he never revealed his true feelings for her. Gyung-soo's relationship with his friend turns sour as Myung-sook becomes obsessively infatuated with Gyung-soo.

Gyung-soo tries to put his bad memories of Choonchun behind him and gets on a train headed for Gyungjoo City. Sitting next to him on the train is a woman named Sun-young who entices him after recognizing his face. After she gets off the train, he chases after Sun-young and stops her, but she gives him mixed signals. Gyung-soo follows Sun-young to her house and on the next day he brews up enough courage to knock on her door. This time Gyung-soo becomes infatuated with love.

Production Notes

Actors love Hong for drawing out their hidden talents and potentials and showcasing them on screen. But for Kim Sang-gyung, Yae Jee-won and Chu Sang-mi, their joy was short lived when they're faced with shocking circumstances... "Principal photography starts tomorrow. There's no script. Come as you are!" The cast was called to the set without a chance to read the script, analyze their roles or even rehearse as is customary with other films. They were given no explanation of the roles or the situations.

Turning Gate never had a finished script. Just a treatment written out like a novel. The cast would meet with the director every morning and would receive their lines for the day. The actors filled the empty spaces with their own words drawn from their own experiences. The extras were recruited 100% on location, on the spot, giving a real-time feel to the film. All the vitality and spirit of a real live concert fills the screen.