<Late Autumn>, released in 2011, is a remake of the 1966 movie with the same title. It stars Hyun Bin and Tang Wei and tells a heartbreaking love story set in Seattle, USA. This film, which was produced entirely in the US, became an opportunity to make actress Tang Wei famous in Korea, and is a representative romance film that is loved over time as it is scheduled to be re-released in 4K on Nov.8, 2023.
Under a dull sky, a woman stumbles down a hill. Anna walks down the street half-conscious and then runs back home. Bruises cover Anna’s face. At her home, her husband is dead in the living room. Inmate 2537. Seven years later, Anna hears the news of her mother’s death in prison and is allowed to go out for the funeral.
<Late Autumn> Information
- Director: Kim Tae-yong
- Cast: Hyun Bin, Tang Wei
- Released Date: 2011/ 2023
- Genre: Romance
- Run Time: 113m
- Rotten tomatoes: 60%
A man gets on the bus which Anna is on it. Since he doesn’t have a ticket, he says he lost his wallet and asks Anna to lend him 30 dollars. Anna, who reluctantly lent her money, tries to ignore the man, but he sits next to her and keeps talking to her. He gives Anna his watch and tells her to keep it until he pays her back.
The man approaches Anna again and speaks to her, who is warming her hands alone with a cup of warm coffee in a rest area. Anna feels uncomfortable with him. Even if she tells him he doesn’t have to pay her back, he doesn’t listen to her. The two arrive in foggy Seattle. Anna takes off his watch and tries to give back to the man, but he offers his business card and says he will definitely pay her money back. Anna throws away the business card right away.
The guy’s name is ‘Hoon’. He escorts women and receives money for a living, and is now being chased by one of his customer’s husband. Upon arriving home, Anna cannot mix with her family and quickly comes out. She runs into Wang Jing into the house from the garden and they exchange an awkward greeting.
Anna leaves the house and goes downtown to do some shopping. Anna, who gets to see the outside world for a long time, buys fancy clothes and earrings, but soon her new ears itch, so she goes to the bathroom, throws away the clothes and earrings, and return to her normal self.
Hoon, who found Anna sitting blankly at the bus stop, approaches her again and tries to talk to her, but Anna remains silent. Hoon pays her back, but she doesn’t take any money. She blurts, “Do you want me?” The two go to a motel and take off their clothes, but Anna soon strongly rejects Hoon.
Hoon takes Anna outside, saying that he always satisfies his customers. After going to the farmer’s market, the two go to a restaurant and Hoon says that he made a reservation on purpose to find out Anna’s name. They eat together and then head to the amusement park.
The amusement park is closed because of construction. The two find a bumper car that they can ride and ride together in an empty amusement park. Anna laughs little by little. When they ride bumper cars, two people appear in front of them, and Hoon begins to make up their conversation as if he were speaking lines from a play. Anna, who was just looking at Hoon, made up a woman’s words.
Anna shows her feeling through the woman. In the movie, it switches to a beautiful dance scene between lovers, adding fantasy element. However, in real life, Anna runs away from Hoon, and Hoon follows her. Anna honestly confesses her situation of having to go back to prison tomorrow. After hearing the story, he took aback and lost in thought for a moment, then said “Hao” in Chinese and asked if it meant “Bad”.
Anna tells him that “Hao” means “good” and “Hwai” means “bad”. Anna reveals her past in Chinese, which Hoon cannot understand. As if he understands what she said, Hoon says “Hao” or “Hwai”. Hoon’s answer is a mess, but Anna finds comfort because he listens to her.
The night gets deeper, and a call comes which is looking for Hoon. Okja, the wife if the man who is looking for Hoon, wants to meet him. Okja loves Hoon. he lives off the money that Okja gives him. Her husband cannot forgive his wife and Hoon. He tells Anna that he will return and asks her to wait at the motel, but when Hoon comes back, only his watch is left on the bed.
Hoon appears at the funeral and when people ask who he is, Anna introduces him as a friend. Hoon tells Wang Jing that he and Anna are going to get married. Wang Jing gets angry and asks for his identity, and a fight breaks out between the two. When Anna, who was outside, comes in and angrily asks what’s going on. Hoon strangely says that Wang Jing didn’t apologize for using his fork.
Anna asks Wang Jing why he uses someone else’s fork and doesn’t apologize. Someone else’s fork he shouldn’t use means Anna herself. Anna uses Hoon’s words to criticize Wang Jing, who loved her, someone else’s wife, but does not take responsibility for her.
After the funeral, Anna boards the bus back to prison. Anna doze off for a while and wakes up with Hoon coming up next to her. Hoon greets Anna as if it were his first time meeting her. The two talk as if they have different futures.
Because of the thick fog, the bus had to stop at a rest area for a while. As the fog becomes thicker, the relationship between Anna and Hoon is also shrouded in fog. Okja’s husband kidnaps Hoon and frames him for a murdering Okja he did not commit. When Hoon realizes the police are coming to catch him, he goes to Anna, kisses her, and promises to meet her here when she is released from prison. The kissing scene in the movie <Late Autumn> is also famous for being the longest kissing scene in a Korean movie.
When Anna woke up from dozing off on the bus, Hoon covered her with his coat and disappeared. A police car, may carrying Hoon, passes by Anna. Unlike before, Anna now holds two cups of coffee in her hands. But no matter how much Anna looks around, there is no sign of Hoon.
Two years later, Anna is released from prison and goes to meet Hoon at the place where they had planned to meet. The ending credits roll with Anna waiting for Hoon at the cafe. The sound of the cafe’s door opening is heard and soon Anna say hello, but the audience cannot see the seat across from Anna. Hoon may or may not come. I think it’s an open ending. Personally, Anna’s lines sounded lonely, like she was talking to herself. Her desire to say hello to Hoon somewhere, even just to herself, was flowing coldly like late autumn.
The movie <Late Autumn> was a heart-wrenching film that lingered long after watching it. Is it because both the viewer and the main characters already know that the love between the two is time-limited? Although it was a love that was limited in time, it was sad to see a man and a woman who loved each other as if they would love each other forever.
Anna, who is deeply hurt by love and does not love anyone, meets Hoon, a man who seems to love everyone but loves no one. At the end of the movie, their hearts are filled with only each other. However, their relationship, which they cannot meet, is as distant as the fog of Seattle.