Woman is the Future of Man (Yeojaneun namjaui miraeda) (2004)

78% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
55% of users liked it
(1,830 ratings)

Two men pursue a woman form their past in this drama from South Korea. Heon-jun (Kim Tae-woo), a struggling filmmaker who has just returned from the United States, runs into his old friend Mun-ho (Yu Ji-tae), now an art professor, and they decide to get a bite to eat. Over dinner, they find… More Two men pursue a woman form their past in this drama from South Korea. Heon-jun (Kim Tae-woo), a struggling filmmaker who has just returned from the United States, runs into his old friend Mun-ho (Yu Ji-tae), now an art professor, and they decide to get a bite to eat. Over dinner, they find themselves talking about Seon-hwa (Seong Hyeon-ah), a beautiful woman they both dated in college. While both men flirt with their waitress, talking about how Seon-hwa has renewed their fascination with their old love, and they individually decide to track her down. They discover Seon-hwa, once an artist, is now working as a bar manager; they learn, in her personal life, the fates have not been kind to her, and in many respects, she's not the women she once was. Yeojaneun Namjaeui Miraeda (aka Woman is the Future of Man) was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: Sang-soo Hong
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Oct 8, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Apr 3, 2007
Studio: New Yorker Films

Critic Reviews

Anthony Lane, New Yorker
Hong has a grace and stealth of his own, and his scenes tend to tilt in directions that few of us would dare to predict.
Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter
Hong Sangsoo's character development and, similarly, relationship progression never develop beyond the slam-bang aspects of romance.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
If [viewers] stick around, however, they might find themselves becoming fans of the cerebral South Korean auteur.
Derek Elley, Variety
Basically, it's an elegant jeu, played and constructed with an almost Gallic lightness heightened by Jeong Yong-jin's bursts of music, all bouncy piano and pizzicato.
Mary Jacobi, Village Voice
Hong may experiment with story flow and import, but he's nothing if not focused on Korean twentysomethings and their untethered life path of power-boozing, disconnection, and romantic failure.
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
Memory, desire and raw self-interest clash against one another with startling poignancy.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Hong sticks to lengthy, static shots, but still somehow manages a heartbreaking grace.
Kam Williams, Upstage Magazine
Brace yourself for several extended, sexually-explicit scenes which would qualify as soft porn. Rebels in heat looking for release, not for love or a relationship.
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
Brace yourself for several extended, sexually-explicit scenes which would qualify as soft porn. Rebels in heat looking for release, not for love or a relationship.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
Isn't terrible. but it doesn't linger well in the memory.
Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic.com
has an elliptical rhythm to it that's extremely reminiscent of French romantic films
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times
Acutely perceptive and mournful character study.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
... elliptical portrait of bored, womanizing men in contemporary South Korea crippled by a lack of ambition and simple human compassion.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Hong's linear fifth feature film is much more than what meets the eye.
Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Provocative, even disturbing in its resistance to categorization, demanding from its viewers a response without the reassurance of psychology or narration.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Woman is the Future of Man" starts with Hyeon-gon(Tae-woo Kim) arriving back in Korea from America where he was attending film school, first meeting up with an old pal, Mun-ho(Ji-tae Yu), who has since gotten married, had a kid, and in general done… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Woman is the Future of Man" starts with Hyeon-gon(Tae-woo Kim) arriving back in Korea from America where he was attending film school, first meeting up with an old pal, Mun-ho(Ji-tae Yu), who has since gotten married, had a kid, and in general done pretty well for himself. Before they go to visit Seon-hwa(Hyeon-a Seong), an ex-girlfriend of Hyeon-gon's, they get blind, stinking drunk at a restaurant and recall old times...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Woman is the Future of Man" is an intriguing but talky and derivative movie that has nothing really profound to say on the subject of relations between men and women which is expressed best in one particular scene. At the restaurant, both men proposition a waitress. Mun-ho asks her to pose nude for a painting. Hyeon-gon asks her to act in a movie he is putting together. This is supposedly indicative of both men's history of relationships. Mun-ho has casual affairs compared to Hyeon-gon's more sensitive approach.(Seon-hwa and him broke up because they used to argue all of the time.) But men are more complex than just two simple types. For example, most men would not proposition a waitress, no matter how drunk they were, if not out of politeness, than remembering that it is best never to mess with one who serves you food.[/font]

Cast

Ji-tae Yu
as Lee Mun-ho
Seong Hyeon-ah
as Park Seon-hwa
Tae-woo Kim
as Kim Heon-jun

Kim Nan-heui
as Waitress
Park Jeong-wan
as Kidnapper
Oh Yu-jin
as Gyeong-heui

See full cast

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Woman is the Future of Man (Yeojaneun namjaui miraeda) (2004)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

Cast

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