Sergio, played by iconic actor Fele Martinez, is a Spanish director who wants to make a Western. As his screenplays continue to be rejected by producers, he leaves for the Chilean desert to write a great, realistic story. In the desert, village residents mistake him for a mysterious person called Diego and he unexpectedly becomes the target of vengeance. Although his screenplay seems to improve Sergio is in a fight for his life. <Salt> is a self-referential western set against the backdrop of the Latin American desert. The film describes the difficulties faced by the director in such detail that it makes one suspect it might even be autobiographical. The scenes in which the main character changes his screenplay based on his vivid and challenging experience in the desert is quite touching. After starting the opening scene with a quote on the Spaghetti Western, the film showcases the genre′s conventional elements-vengeance, duels and honor-which the director eventually chooses to overturn. Salt, the element that "both preserves and decays" may refer to directors′ elusive creative environment. (RHEE, Soue-won)