Claire's Camera Analysis

Claire's Camera

Written, Directed & Produced by: Hong Sang-soo

Screened at Cannes Film Festival 2017.

The setting and the world in Hong Sang-soo's films are so personal, indiosyncratic and similar - any film buff would love these settings. His characters are often filmmakers, film students, film critics and they're often set in film festivals. This film is set in Cannes, France where a filmmaker, his collaborator and a sales agent from Korea go there - the collaborator fires the sales agent, who is a young girl, citing no reason - later we know that the filmmaker and the girl had an affair. All of these characters meet a French woman Claire in the city and roam around the city - they go to cafes, restaurants, libraries, they take photos and talk. Everything that is out there in the film comes from a personal space, the things that they do, whatever that they talk, the places they roam around - resonate with a lot of artists. They often use a line, 'You look like an artist' - what could more flattering than that if you say that to an artist. They also show how artists are proud of their art, often in Hong's films - he has characters who are impressed by the fact that they meet a filmmaker. 

Cannes is beautifully shown, we don't see travel video like montages or footages - but every setup that is there in the film, a beach, an outdoor cafe, a beer cafe, a bridge, a library, the road - all these setups portray the milieu of the place very well. It's not a constant dopamine rush, while you are watching the film - but it shows what kind of an experience you'd actually have if you go there and meet people. Hong's trademark, zoom in and zoom outs while in the shot are interesting and they are so long takes - they feel so real because the character in one scene asks a question which she already asked and she says, 'Oh I yeah forgot, you already told me that'.