The Power of Kangwon Province 강원도의 힘 (1998) (Blu Ray) (English Subtitled) (US Version)

Presented in a beautiful restoration and newly translated, Hong Sangsoo's breakthrough second feature The Power of Kangwon Province is an early masterwork from the prolific filmmaker. Playing with structure, perspective, and time – elements that would become hallmarks of his later work – the film follows a young woman, Jisook, who, fresh off her relationship with a married man, joins two girlfriends for a vacation in the mountainous Kangwon region and quickly makes the same mistakes, tumbling into bed with a married policeman. The film then shifts to her ex, Sangwon, who happens to be visiting the same region at the same time, threatening to cross Jisook's path.

Etched with precision and conveying a world of feeling, The Power of Kangwon Province is the second feature by the South Korean director Hong Sangsoo and one of the best films you can see this year. --Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

A coolly bracing drama of the mysterious bonds of lovers, and an original form to match. With an incisive eye for landscape and architecture, Hong films the story as a romantic travelogue. --Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Complex in structure and subtler in effect. Virtuoso filmmaking. --Time Out