Filmmaker Joong-rae, suffering from writer's block, takes a trip to the coast with his production designer Chang-wook, who brings along the vivacious Moon-sook. Soon after their arrival, Moon-sook falls for Joong-rae's advances; however, the fickle hero can't commit and he awkwardly parts with her. What had been a sardonic Jules and Jim turns into a burlesque Vertigo when Joong-rae returns to the coastal resort and attempts to recreate the original romance with a woman who resembles Moon-sook, until his jilted lover shows up. Deemed by many critics to be Hong Sang-soo's most sheerly enjoyable and satisfying film, Woman on the Beach satirizes the misalignment of art and life, as the mysteries of the heart and the mysteries of artistic creation collide in ways that are both ironic and affecting.

Hong Sang-soo---South Korea---2006---128 mins.