Woman on the Beach (2006)

Woman on the Beach deftly captures the subtle layers of monotony, humor and sadness

The film revolves around a movie director making a trip to the beach along with a friend and his girlfriend in the hopes of getting inspiration to finish his script. Soon after, the director and his friend's girlfriend developed an attraction with each other, sneaked out together at night and sleeping together. I've seen this film numerous times, and I'm always captivated by the fact that it doesn't have a lot of lines or fancy dialogues. It has humor and sadness at the same time. Those long shots of particular scenes were beautiful, it reminds me of Lav Diaz's style of filming.

The film featured an ensemble cast, with Kim Seung Woo, Kim Tae Woo, and Go Hyun Jung as the main characters. This is also Go Hyun Jung's debut in film after starring in numerous high-rating TV dramas in the past. I don't have much to say with the acting; as expected with Hong Sang Soo, the characters were well-written so these veteran actors were able to deliver. In addition, the quiet and lonely beach greatly matches the film's conventional storytelling.

If you are a fan of Korean arthouse films, you might have seen Hong Sang Soo's other films as well. His originality is widely praised by both Korean and Western film critics and earned him several international awards. He also known for being spontaneous when shooting, highlighting realism in his films. It can also be seen in his other works such as 'Like You Know it All' and 'Right Now, Wrong Then'. A few months ago, Woman on the Beach had a limited screening at Film at Lincoln Center.

One of Hong Sang Soo's best films, Woman on the Beach is a film highly recommended to watch. If you have already seen it, go see it one more time.

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