47/48
A French woman in Korea drinks makgeolli after losing her income, then teaches French to two Korean women. Reference: Best Movies of 2024 and other results (2024). Iris is French but she’s staying in Korea for now, we have no idea why she ended up here, but we know she needs to make ends meet, so she gets creative and starts teaching French using her own unique method. The film is very down to earth but very poetic and curiously revolves around language and communication. And sometimes miscommunication. Or refusing to communicate or listen. It is also about the social and interpersonal distance between people who know each other and those who do not, and how it is "accepted" the distance may vary or vary depending on various factors such as cultural norms, location of the conversation, mood, etc. The plot is simple, but we’re more interested in the nuances. We are not interested in knowing what WILL HAPPEN to Iris or other characters, but how they will react at a certain point in the conversation, what they will feel and say and how they will do it. Also, Iris’s character is really interesting and little bits of her true nature are revealed little by little, but there’s still a lot left for us to think about. Very fine, authentic and elaborate work, yet simple.
