Isabelle Huppert reunites with Hong Sang-soo for their third collaboration in the 2024 South Korean drama “A Traveler’s Needs,” playing at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Friday, March 7. The enigmatic film centers on Iris (Huppert), an itinerant Frenchwoman living in a Seoul suburb who, in need of money and without any professional experience, devises a unique approach to teaching her native tongue. Much to her clients’ discomfort, Iris eschews textbooks, but instead starts with casual conversations in English that are more like chats.
We witness the process initially with a nervously self-conscious young Korean woman, Yi-song (Kim Seung-yun). After Yi-song plays a piece on the piano, Iris asks her how it made her feel. Yi-song answers that playing the piano makes her feel happy. Iris probes like a pushy therapist, asking her to go a little deeper. Yi-song says she likes the melody. We squirm just a bit when Iris urges her to go still further, and Yi-song reluctantly reveals feeling like an inadequate musician. From this vulnerable place, Iris creates a poem in French on the spot, which she writes out on a card and gives to Yi-song to memorize.
Witnessing this process several times with different clients, we begin to wonder if perhaps Iris “needs” to “travel” to these sorts of raw revelations for personal pleasure rather than pedagogy. Yet when one of her clients confronts her on this unorthodox approach, Iris explains, “With this practice, I want you to experience that this foreign language can express something meaningful or something very personal from the beginning … One morning you might realize your heart has assimilated this foreign language.”
Iris belittles typical conversations taught to beginners, saying they are too childish. Yet, the conversations between Iris and her clients are in English, and have all the earmarks of the stilted simplicity that comes when conversing in a foreign language in which one isn’t fluent. These “light,” slightly awkward, and superficial conversations stand in contrast to the soulful depth of the poems Iris produces from the emotions of her clients’ souls and those of the Korean poets we encounter at various points in the film.
Sang-soo keeps us guessing about Iris, never allowing us to quite pin her down. She is ethereal in her floral sundress and floppy hat. But Iris is also infinitesimally unsettling. Her hugs linger a tad too long, and she imbibes a remarkable amount of milky Korean rice wine without seemingly getting tipsy.
The film unfolds at a luxurious pace, matched by the pleasant, warm summer days and pretty, suburban surroundings. The narrative drifts gently from one amusing moment of cultural exchange to another, with the disconcerting aspect that some are exact repeats. The dialogue and scenarios are identical, just with different characters, making us wonder at the underlying meaning.
Concrete answers remain elusive. At its core, however, “A Traveler’s Needs” is a captivating exploration of language and its capacity to connect us … or not.
“A Traveler’s Needs” is playing at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Friday, March 7. For information and tickets, visit mvfilmsociety.com/2025/02/a-travelers-needs.
