NewYorkFilmFestival

Press conference for the New York Film Festival film:

WOMAN ON THE BEACH
Series: The 44th New York Film Festival [Sept 29 - Oct 15 2006]
Director: Hong Sang-soo, Country: South Korea, Release: 2006, Runtime: 127

Even for those who already recognize Hong Sang-soo (Tale of Cinema NYFF ’05) as a filmmaker of great psychological sensitivity and refinement, his latest offering comes as an unexpected delight: It is the most sheerly enjoyable and satisfying film of his career. Chang-wook won (Seung-woo kim) is a film director trying to complete his script who stumbles into relationships with two women he meets at an off-season seaside resort. In the process, he lays bare the destructive patterns of his behavior and generates material for his new film.

Even as Woman on the Beach brilliantly explores one of Hong’s enduring themes -- the Korean male psyche in all its willfulness, anger and self-contempt – it brings its female characters to the forefront in a revelatory new way. A luminous performance by superstar TV actress Go Hyun-jung, who chose to make her film debut with Hong, imbues the film with warmth, intelligence and hard-won optimism.