That one´s really difficult to answer since there can be found cynism in any of his films, but in regards to his pessimistic view on relationship and alienation might “Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors” and “Woman on the Beach” be the most cynical ones, while “Tale of Cinema” and “Turning Gate” are as appearant in their criticism that they could be regarded as less cynical, though nevertheless pessimistic. It´s hard to say where to locate his earliest films “The Day a Pig Fell into the Well” and “The Power of Kangwon Province”, but the bitter cynism of his later works is as elaborated as in his later works although they focus even stronger on alienation and can therefore be regarded two of his most pessimistic films.
They are all pretty cynical but not very cynical at the same time. While he deromanticises relationships, he does not fault or oppose them, rather shows the pragmatic side of human relationships that is reflected in reality and not the dramatics most films present to us. I don’t think I can rank them but I will say that Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors is probably his most optimistic film ending-wise and The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well has the least favourable ending. That being said, Hong Sang-soo films are just mirrors of reality so I won’t explicitly call them cynical, unless a lack of romanticism is equal to cynicsm.
Brian Murphy
I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I’ve watched a whole bunch of Hong Sang Soo’s in a row, and I think ive been reading them all a bit too unvaryingly. Could anyone rank his movies from what they think are his “most optimistic/humanistic/least cynical” to his “most pessimistic/cynical”?