Film director Je-hyeon, who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, wants to make one last proper film in the time he has left. While his wife, Soo-jin, reproaches him, asking what is so important about film that he would destroy himself for it, Je-hyeon secretly meets with actors and moves forward with his movie with the help of his friend Ji-young. It won′t be long before Soo-jin discovers Je-hyeon′s reckless undertaking and resolute determination. This burning passion Je-hyeon has for film is nothing less than an expression of a complex inner world, one mixed with regret and remorse, obsession and resignation, pain and joy, death and love. This is the first half of By another name. This is the third feature film from director Lee Jeahan, who consistently explores the themes of connection, detachment, building, demolishing, and rebuilding with a plain structure and mysterious form. The director captures the incomprehensibility of life deeply embedded within the world, along with the facets, flow, and workings of that world, which are all the more fascinating due to its coolness. The second half, which unfolds after a time gap, is even more daring and unrestrained. Je-hyeon is no longer here, but his screenplay, which has not yet become a film, remains. Soo-jin decides to complete it. It is as if this is her way and her reason for remembering, loving, and living on for Je-hyeon. Dreams and reality connect without boundaries, conversations with ghosts casually occur, and we witness different forms of the same face. The film flows seamlessly, marked by tension between what is inside and outside the frame, humor and pathos, and a focus on the process of filmmaking rather than the result. Then, suddenly you find yourself before By another name, your heart opening as if enchanted. The willingness of those who strive to hold on to film and love is commendable, and the simple enlightenment gained at the end is overwhelming. The moving, vibrant energy of life sparkles and is revived.
