Overview of Right Now, Wrong Then

‘Right Now, Wrong Then’ revolves around Chun-soo (Jung Jae-young) and Hee-jung (Kim Min-hee). Chun-soo reaches Suwon a day earlier where the film festival occurs. To kill his time he wanders around a palace and meets an artist named Hee-jung. In a nick of time, they become friends and she invites him to see her workshop. Later, they go to a restaurant in the evening, where he shares surprising matters with Hee-jung.

Profile

• Name: Right Now, Wrong Then
• Genre: Drama
• Starring: Jung Jae-young, Kim Min-hee
• Directed by: Hong Sang-soo
• Written by: Hong Sang-soo
• Distributed by: Next Entertainment World
• Release Date: 13 August 2015 in Locarno, 24 September 2015 in South Korea
• Produced by: Kim Kyoung-hee
• Cinematography: Park Hong-yeol
• Production Company: Jeonwonsa Films
• Edited by: Hahm Sung-won
• Running time: 121 minutes
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

Synopsis

Part 1

Ham Cheon-soo is an arthouse film director. He meets an artist named Hee-jung at Suwon when he goes there to screen one of his movies at the film festival. She was a model initially, but she soon found it mundane and quit modelling. On their second meeting, Cheon-soo opens a conversation with Hee-jung. Hee-jung identifies him due to Cheon-soo’s profession as a director. After becoming friends, they go to a coffee shop. Sipping coffee, they start to share stories from their lives.

Hee-jung tells him about her uninteresting life as a model and an artist. As their friendship grows, she takes him to her workshop and shows her works. Later, they go for dinner in a Korean restaurant. In the tipsiness of drinking soju, they start to flirt. Cheon-soo becomes chatty about her paintings and appreciates her life as a woman. Afterwards, he confesses that she has become more than a friend to him in that short period of time. He searches for a ring in his pocket and finds none. As they talk, Cheon-soo discloses that she does not have many friends.

Cheon-soo takes a break from the conversation and goes out to smoke, that time, Hee-jung remembers the birthday party that she has to attend. Therefore, Hee-jung leaves for the party, and Cheon-soo joins the company.

After the party, Hee-jung describes to her friend the things that Cheon-soo told her. Her friend finds nothing impressive about Cheon-soo and tells Hee-jung that he is a natural flirt and a womanizer. Also, she tells her that he is married, and the words that he told her resemble the things that he said in his interviews. Later, the drunken Hee-jung returns home and gets scolded by her mother for drinking.

The next day, in the screening discussion, Cheon-soo acts indifferent. Afterwards, he returns to Seoul with the handwritten book of Hee-jung given to him by Hee-jun’s friend.

Part 2

When the day breaks, Cheon-soo goes to the temple where he met Hee-jung in the first part. They become friends, and they go to the coffee shop. They share their personal stories. Hee-jung tells him that she lives with her divorced mother, and her father shifted to Seoul.

Later, Cheon-soo visits Hee-jung’s workplace, and she confidently shows her paintings. Though he appreciates her talent and paintings, he suggests her to enhance her choices. Also, he made a criticism that she should draw portraits that are able to connect with the emotions of the audience.

Hearing the comments, Hee-jung feels insulted. Watching the displeased face of Hee-jung, Cheon-soo goes outside the workshop to smoke a cigarette. Later, she takes him to the rooftop and shows her home from there.

Although Cheon-soo compliments Hee-jung’s beauty while sitting in the Korean restaurant, she insults him by saying that he is a womanizer. Cheon-soo tells him that she has a sad aura. In between their talk, Cheon-soo confesses her feelings to her and cries since he cannot marry her as he is already married. To console the crying Cheon-soo, Hee-jung says that they should have met earlier. Nonetheless, Cheon-soo gifts her a ring which is similar to a wedding ring.

From the restaurant, they go to attend Hee-jung’s birthday party. Her friends are impressed by the character of Cheon-soo and do not find him as a womanizer. Nevertheless, he strips his clothes off in the tipsiness of alcohol in front of the girls at the party. Instead of getting angry, Hee-jung laughs her lungs out when she learns about it.

When the party ends, both Cheon-soo and Hee-jung return to her house, and when they reach her house, he requests her to come back after meeting her mother so they can chat a little longer. However, after planting a kiss on his cheeks, she vanishes into her house and does not come out.

Later, Cheon-soo and Hee-jung meet at the place where his film is screened. Before leaving, they wish the other one a good life, and before the final goodbye, Hee-jung promises that she will watch all of his movies from then on.

Theme

As the name of the film represents ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’ the movie shows the two aspects of the same things. In the first part, Cheon-soo is represented as a womanizer who woos Hee-jung. Though Hee-jung is interested in Cheon-soo, her friend makes her rethink her choice since he is already married.

In the second part, Cheon-soo is portrayed as a capable director who comments on the artworks of Hee-jung. This time Hee-jung’s friend finds Cheon-soo as a good person but Hee-jung thinks he is a womanizer.

Awards

• 16th Busan Film Critics Awards 2016
  Best Actress – Kim Min-hee
• 3rd Wildflower Film Awards 2016
  Best Actor – Jung Jae-young
• 53rd Gijon International Film Festival 2015
  Best Actor – Jung Jae-young
  Best Film
• 9th Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2015
  Best Actor – Jung Jae-young
• 35th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2015
  Top 10 Films of the Year
  Best Actor – Jung Jae-young
• 68th Locarno International Film Festival 2015
  Best Actor – Jung Jae-young
  Golden Leopard – ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’

Interesting Facts about Right Now, Wrong Then

1. The filming of ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’ was started on 21 January 2015 and ended on 9 February 2015.
2. The movie was critically acclaimed and got a rating 7.5 out of 10 according to the records of Rotten Tomatoes.
3. The British daily newspaper, The Guardian, wrote the as a gem in the list of modern South Korean Cinema.
4. The movie has two parts.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’?
   Hong Sang-soo.
   
2. When was the movie ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’ released?
   The movie was released on 24 September 2015.
3. What is the Instagram ID of Kim Min-hee?
   @loveminheelove.
4. Who stars in the movie ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’?
   Jung Jae-young and Kim Min-hee star in the movie ‘Right Now, Wrong Then’.