Tale of Cinema is an essay written by film curator, Dennis Lim.

In the fourth title of the Decadent Editions series, Dennis Lim explores the oeuvre of South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo via his 2005 film, Tale of Cinema.

‘With Hong Sangsoo less is more. Less time to shoot, fewer explanations, fewer people on set – more inspiration, more cinema. Working with him (twice) counts among my most rewarding experiences as an actress. Every day was a miracle. Camera movements, frames, dialogues, costumes; Dennis Lim’s brilliant book shows us that, with Hong, it is about getting to what’s essential. Poetry, humour, emotion.’
— Isabelle Huppert

‘To discuss the entirety of Hong Sangsoo’s oeuvre, which spans some thirty titles, Dennis Lim decided to focus on one. Lim loves and knows Hong’s work thoroughly, and the film he chose is the crystal in which all the others are reflected. Here is the best gateway into the Hong multiverse.’
— Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

About the film
Forty minutes in, we realise we’ve been watching a film within the film. The ‘real’ characters leave the cinema and find themselves reenacting what they just saw, as a chance encounter invites a suicide pact. Is it life imitating art, or the other way around?

—

COLOPHON

Written by Dennis Lim
Published by Fireflies Press
Language: English,
Format: Softcover, 216 pages
ISBN-13: 9780645454703
Publication Date: August 2022