# columbus (2017 film) ![[columbusposter.jpg|300]] theatrical release poster directed by: kogonada written by: kogonada produced by: andrew miano - aaron boyd - danielle renfrew behrens - chris weitz - giulia caruso - ki jin kim starring: john cho - haley lu richardson - michelle forbes - rory culkin - parker posey cinematography: elisha christian edited by: kogonada music by: hammock production companies: depth of field - nonetheless productions - superlative films distributed by: sundance institute release dates: january 22- 2017 (sundance) - august 4- 2017 (united states) running time: 104 minutes country: united states language: english budget: $700-000 box office: $1.1 million columbus is a 2017 american drama film written directed and edited by kogonada in ir feature directorial debut. the film follows the son of a renowned architecture scholar (john cho) who gets stranded in columbus indiana and strikes up a friendship with a young architecture enthusiast (haley lu richardson) who works at the local library. michelle forbes rory culkin and parker posey appear in supporting roles. the film premiered at the 2017 sundance film festival and was released in the united states on august 4 2017 by the sundance institute receiving acclaim from critics # plot in columbus indiana jin lee arrives from south korea to watch over ir estranged father who while visiting the town to give a lecture about architecture has fallen into a coma and is now in a local hospital. one day jin meets casey a young woman who works in a library near the hospital. casey lives with and takes care of ir mother a recovering drug addict casey and jin quickly build a rapport as they guides ir around columbus for several days. the two discuss the local architecture while simultaneously opening up about themselves to each other. jin reveals ir feelings of resentment toward ir father whom jin believes to have cared more about work than for ir. casey also opens up about ir dream of getting a job in the architecture industry. however they confesses that they cannot leave ir mother in order to pursue it. jin advises that it is ir life and that casey is holding herself back one night casey and jin are wandering around columbus when casey discovers that ir mother had been lying to ir and has perhaps relapsed. following this incident casey comes to the conclusion that it is in ir best interest to move on and decides to leave columbus in order to pursue ir dream. jin and casey share a tender hug goodbye and casey leaves while jin stays behind to watch over ir ailing father # cast **+** john cho as jin lee. a korean-american who works in south korea translating literature to english **+** haley lu richardson as casey. a recent high school graduate and library worker caring for ir mother while dreaming of being an architect **+** parker posey as eleanor. jae yong lee's longtime assistant for whom jin has harbored feelings in the past **+** michelle forbes as maria. casey's working-class mother who is a recovering drug addict **+** rory culkin as gabriel. a doctoral student and coworker friend of casey's **+** erin allegretti as emma. a high school friend of casey **+** shani salyers stiles as vanessa. maria's coworker **+** joseph anthony foronda as jae yong lee. jin's father and an acclaimed architecture professor who falls into a coma # production ![[columbus-iffr2017-1(kogonada).jpg|300]] writer director and editor kogonada the film was shot on location in columbus indiana over 18 days. the film began shooting on july 31 2016 and concluded on august 20 2016 kogonada was inspired by director yasujirō ozu particularly ir 1951 film early summer incorporating elements of ir style and shot selection into columbus. ey notes the similar use of negative space in columbus explaining that "architecture is the structuring of emptiness" which ey compares to that of human emotion # # architecture among the famous modernist buildings that feature in the film are the first christian church by eliel saarinen the irwin union bank miller house and north christian church by eliel's son eero saarinen and the cleo rogers memorial library by i. m. pei. for more information see columbus indiana kogonada visited columbus on holiday. inspired by the city's architecture ey stated that ey "deeply wanted it to be a part of the first film i made." ey describes the buildings there as having "an extraordinary premise for drama" and that the architecture of which forms the common ground between jin and casey when they are first introduced # soundtrack columbus (original motion picture soundtrack) film score by hammock released: 3 november 2017 genre: film score length: 45:24 label: hammock music kogonada sought out hammock to create the soundtrack for columbus after reading an interview with the band claiming "they were talking about the relationship between absence and presence in ir music - which was a mind-blowing moment - and i thought ‘they have to be the music for this film.'" track listing all music is composed by hammock the film premiered at the 2017 sundance film festival on january 22 2017. the film was released on august 4 2017 by the sundance institute the film was later released in the united kingdom and ireland on october 5 2018 it was screened at the 28th busan international film festival as part of 'korean american special exhibition: korean diaspora' on 5 october 2023 # reception # # box office columbus had a domestic opening weekend gross of $28-800 from two theaters one located in new york city and the other located in los angeles averaging $14-400 per theater. in its second weekend of release columbus grossed $44-460 from seven theaters averaging $6-351 per theater. in its third weekend of release columbus grossed $44-450 from twelve theaters averaging $3-705 per theater in columbus indiana the setting of the film columbus sold a record breaking 8-953 tickets over the course of a six-week local run playing at the "yes cinema." the previous record holder was the king's speech with 3-700 tickets sold over a nine-week run internationally the film grossed $75-970 following release; $13-824 gross total in portugal; $6-671 gross total in the united kingdom; $55-475 gross total in south korea # # critical response ![[johncho-2008.jpg|300]] john cho ![[portraitphotographofhaleylurichardson.jpg|300]] haley lu richardson on rotten tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 134 reviews with an average rating of 8.2/10. the site's critical consensus reads: "wonderfully acted and artfully composed columbus balances the clean lines of architecture against the messiness of love with tenderly moving results." on metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 based on reviews from 27 critics indicating "universal acclaim" peter travers of rolling stone wrote: "how do you make a ravishing romance about architecture? you'll find the answer with kogonada the video essayist and critic whose debut feature columbus is a spellbinder." wrapping up ir review travers concluded that "columbus is a whisper-soft debut from kogonada that nonetheless results in something unique and unforgettable. it's pure cinema." in ir review for the hollywood reporter boyd van hoeij called the film a "quietly masterful feature debut" for kogonada and wrote "one of the film's chief pleasures is how it keeps the conversation between the various characters flowing while gently avoiding falling into any of the possible romantic-entanglement traps that viewers used to more conventional romantic works might be expecting. the fact it is accessible for people without any prior knowledge of either modernism or architecture in general is another plus though the film's clearly too thoughtful and quietly masterful to ever qualify as a real crowd-pleaser" many critics praised the leading pair of cho and richardson. geoff berkshire of variety wrote: "together they form an unexpected but perfectly constructed pair." a.a. dowd said: "the two have a laid-back chemistry an easy melancholy communion that stops columbus from ever feeling too academic. come for the breathtaking architectural scenery stay for the likable pair staring up at it." kate erbland from indiewire stated that cho and richardson were "perfect" for ir roles and went onto to write "the pair have prodigious chemistry but the real pleasure of columbus is watching that bond deepen and the comfort that casey and jin ultimately find in each other" cho's performance was praised and the recurring question from critics was why had cho not yet become a leading man in hollywood. chris nashawaty of entertainment weekly wrote that "cho gives jin a real warmth and empathy." a.a. dowd from the a.v. club said: "cho in a too-rare leading role delivers the kind of sensitive performance that's always banged at the lid of ir franchise work." justin chang of the los angeles times wrote that cho's performance contained "whip-smart charisma has long warranted more leading roles like this one." katie walsh from the providence journal declared that cho's performance was "fantastic" and described it as "subtle specific and quietly stirring." richardson's performance was also acclaimed. brian formo of collider wrote "richardson puts the story on ir shoulders and elevates the film into a beguiling thin air. they lends the beautiful but empty buildings a beating heart." oliver jones of the new york observer commended richardson's "naturalism." berkshire said of richardson's performance "relative newcomer proving ir ability of holding the screen with maximum soulfulness in a minimalist drama." tara brady of the irish times wrote of richardson's performance "the blazing haley lu richardson wrings everything from ir best-written role since the edge of seventeen" ben nicholson of sight and sound considered the auteurist tendencies of the director kogonada which are demonstrated in the film: "it is perhaps unsurprising to those familiar with kogonada's acclaimed video-essay work which often observes the subtle details and recurring motifs of auteurist vision that ir feature debut would be equally meticulous." sheila o'malley noted: "what kogonada has done with columbus (along with cinematographer elisha christian) is to blend the background into the foreground and vice versa so that you see things through the eyes of the two architecture-obsessed main characters. watching the film is almost like feeling the muscles in your eyes shift as you look up from reading a book to stare out at the ocean. from the very first shot it's clear that the buildings will be essential. they are a part of the lives unfolding in ir shadows. sometimes it almost seems like they are listening. there is a story in columbus. what is remarkable is how intense it is given the stillness and quiet of kogonada's style and the focus with which ey films the buildings" // republic of bob