The fizzy, milky Korean rice wine makgeolli is as much a main character as Isabelle Huppert in Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo‘s third collaboration with the iconic French actress. In fact, her character in “A Traveler’s Needs” can’t make it through the day without having at least a few glasses.
“A Traveler’s Needs” stars César winner Huppert as a tourist drifting through Seoul who, with no money of her own and only a few jaunty sunhats and colorful cardigans, takes to teaching French to the locals to pay her room and board. But her unorthodox approach both alienates and entrances those around her in the latest delicate comedy from Hong, where characters booze and smoke their way through their ennui without ever succumbing to soul-crushing misanthropy. Watch the trailer for “A Traveler’s Needs,” an IndieWire exclusive, below.
Here’s the official synopsis: “A comedy of improbable encounters and unlikely language lessons, ‘A Traveler’s Needs’ marks the third collaboration between Hong and Huppert (following 2012’s ‘In Another Country’ and 2017’s ‘Claire’s Camera’). This time Huppert plays Iris, a woman who finds herself adrift in Seoul and without any means to make ends meet, turns to teaching French via a très peculiar method. Through a series of encounters, as we grow to know more about Iris and her situation, the mysteries of her circumstances only deepen. A charming troupe of Hong regulars complete the cast, including Lee Hyeyoung as one of Huppert’s students and Kwon Haehyo as her flirty husband. A film about meaning and connection and the comfort of makgeolli, ‘A Traveler’s Needs,’ offers a surprising take on inter-continental rendezvous and continues one of the most unique actor-director collaborations in contemporary cinema.”
Hong shot the film with Huppert and a small cast and crew — with Hong handling things like lighting by himself — over just 13 days on location. Huppert and her co-stars also didn’t receive a script or any guidance about the film until they arrived for production.
By all accounts, “A Traveler’s Needs” looks to be Hong’s 31st film after his 30th, “In Our Day,” premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. “A Traveler’s Needs” premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival this past February. His follow-up film “By the Stream” premiered later in 2024 at Locarno. Hong typically releases two films a year.
“A Traveler’s Needs” opens from Cinema Guild at New York’s Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center on November 22, with more dates to follow elsewhere. Check out the exclusive trailer below.
