After the poor reception of I Am Looking for a Bride and The Ascension of Han-Ne, Ha Gil-Jong became persona non grata to the Chungmuro studios and was forced by his circumstances to accept the offer to direct a sequel to Lee Chang-Ho’s popular Heavenly Homecoming to Stars. Despite the compromised situation, Ha was reunited with novelist Choi In-Ho (March of Fools) and singer-songwriter Song Chang-Shik, who composed the film’s plaintive theme song. Reviving the ill-fated painter from the original film, Choi and Ha craft a dark melodrama about his love with a troubled young woman just released from a mental hospital. Ha provocatively included open quotes from art films he revered, including a famous moment from David Lean’s Ryan’s Daughter (1970) and a scene in the mental hospital of patients playing volleyball Antonioni-style, without a ball.