By  Derek McIntyre

                Late Autumn is a masterfully told story of a woman who is incarcerated for murder after she acts in self defense again her abusive husband.  Anna (Wie Tang) is released on bond for two days to attend her mother’s funeral.  While Anna is on her way home she meets an eccentric and confident man from Korea who pursues her after they meet on a bus to Seattle.  Hoon, (Bin Hyeon) the man who is revealed to be a Gigolo, is first introduced to Anna when he is forced to borrow money from her to board the bus to Seattle. 

                After the two are separated and Anna returns home to her family, she again crosses paths with Hoon and he soon brings her out of her shell and teaches her how to love again.  Both Anna and Hoon discover an escape from their loneliness with each other, the charming Hoon tries mightily to get Anna to simply speak, and when she finally does Hoon is rewarded by her equally charming personality. 

                The pace at which the story is told is perhaps the most important character in the film Kim-Tae Yong slows the film to a grind which can at first be its downfall.  Once the viewer becomes engaged in the film it is as though the pace is another character in it.  Many scenes continue on far after their purpose, even many of the individual shots are held artistically longer than they should be.  It is the grinding pace that ads to the film and furthers the emotional attachment to the characters and allows the viewers to fall deeper into the heartwarming story of two misfits who fall in love.

                The film was fantastic and far exceeded my expectations, the manner in which Yong told the story and the cinematic elements he used were perfect to engage the viewer.  Wie Tang’s performance in Late Autumn was also nothing short of spectacular and is another why I found the film to be so entertaining.  Anna faced a sobering reality once her two days were finished and her broken and wounded portrayal of Anna is spell binding and nothing short of perfect.