Film director Joong-rae is in a creative quagmire. For a change of scenery, he takes a trip to a beach with his friend Chang-wook and Chang-wook`s girlfriend Moon-sook. Drawn to Moon-sook`s charm, Joong-rae flirts her and she doesn`t seem to be bothered by his advances. They end up to making love together, but Joong-rae leaves her behind and comes back to Seoul. A few days later, he revisits the beach and meets another woman with whom he flirts. Director Hong`s dialogues, actions, setups do not deliver any clear meaning, but it is this indirectness that makes Hong`s film more affluent and complex. Woman on the Beach, Hong`s seventh film that is charming, yet most heartwarming than his previous films, shows Hong`s new attempt. Characters stop wandering in the closed circuit of desire, and they try so hard to escape from it. Agony, not seen in his previous works is accomplished by unexpected opportunity. Human desire always passes by its object, and time and narrative advance mysteriously. Woman on the Beach may be Hong`s most ambitious film. (Huh Moon-yung)