Woman on the Beach

Released Jun 19, 2020

1h 40m

Drama

List

89%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

Jung-rae goes to a seaside resort to finish a script and starts seducing his friend's girlfriend.

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Critics Consensus

Hong brings his usual light touch to this well-acted salvo in the battle of the sexes.

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Chris Chang

Film Comment Magazine

Hong has a deceptively simple director's touch, an organic breeziness that makes things feel spontaneous and improvised.

Jun 17, 2013

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G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

Woman on the Beach, perhaps [director Hong's] most accessible film (and often a funny one, too), is a good introduction, even if it is not a masterpiece. Here's hoping more of his films see the light of an American day.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 20, 2008

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Jeff Shannon

Seattle Times

A richly satisfying film that compassionately probes the human heart while preserving its elusive mysteries.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 30, 2008

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

"Woman on the Beach" is a distinct Hong Sang-soo movie, which both fans of the director and intelligent art-house cinema will definitely enjoy.

Feb 21, 2021

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Soham Gadre

Film Inquiry

Woman on the Beach is like a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it's not going to wow anybody, but it's universally tolerable on a simplistic level.

Jul 22, 2020

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Diane Carson

KDHX (St. Louis)

Perhaps enhanced by today's need for more person-to-person interaction, [director Sang-soo] Hong's stylistic approach strikes me as perfect for these trying times.

Jun 24, 2020

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Audience Member

An interesting film that really dissects the relationships which exist between men and woman. This is actually my first Sang-soo Hong film, and he really does have a very unique voice. The film follows a director who convinces his friend to come to beach with him to help write his next screenplay. The friend brings his girlfriend whom the director is immediately drawn too. What ensues isnt much of a love triangle but more a study of the relationship which divulges between these two characters who are instantly attracted to one and other. The film has a lot of philosophical discussions between characters and does grow to be a bit tedious given the length of 128 minutes. Hong has some great compositions but I found his use of zoom to be a bit distracting. Strong, fascinating film but its pacing was a little too tedious for me to rate it any higher.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Audience Member

I can appreciate the attemp to dissect the various relationships among relative strangers, but it's long and slow and has some odd camera work to boot.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

This is better than "Night and Day" IMHO...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

One of the best Korean art house films I have seen. Storyline is simple yet Director Hong made sure it displays how complex relationships are between men and women. Astounding.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

Enjoyed the overall flow of this one. I appreciated Hong's patience with the camera in general, allowing scenes to play out with limited cutting. The zooms seemed more distracting than helpful, though they often do effectively isolate certain characters from others. The arc of the female protagonist reminded me a little of Kate Dollenmeyer's character in Funny Ha Ha, not just in the story, but in Hong's portrayal of her as well. Very enjoyable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

some odd camera work that was sort of interesting, kind of silly and some occasionally awful dialogue.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Hong Sang-soo

Director

Kim Seung-woo

Director Kim Jung-rae

Hyun-Jung Go

Kim Mun-suk

Song Seon-mi

Choi Sun-hee

Kim Tae-woo

Won Chang-wook

Hong Sang-soo

Writer

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Synopsis

Jung-rae goes to a seaside resort to finish a script and starts seducing his friend's girlfriend.

Director: Hong Sang-soo
Producer: Jason Chae, Oh Jeong-wan
Screenwriter: Hong Sang-soo
Distributor: Grasshopper FIlms
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 19, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 23, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.2K
Runtime: 1h 40m

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