The Isle (2000)

Wow, where to start with this. Ki Duk Kim has always been a divisive director, with his films showing slow burning, very natural, almost spiritual human traits. This though is like a magnified version of a Ki Duk Kim film. It's low budget, set in a single location, stunningly beautiful, very gruesome in parts, explicit and controversial. It centres around a lonely woman (Hee Jin) who delivers bait to tourist fisherman. What we see unfold is a symbolism heavy ride into a twisted / tumultuous relationship between Hee Jin and a visitor. It's full of breathtaking cinematography, sparse dialogue and one of the most stomach churning suicide attempts I've ever seen on screen. As usual with Ki Duk Kim, water as a symbol is featured heavily, and so are animals and nature. Quite why certain little creatures are sacrificed on screen I'm not sure though. A warning to anyone who is easily offended by animal cruelty - don't watch this movie.What does it all mean in the end? I'm torn between it being an entire metaphor for how difficult relationships can be / an exploration into gender roles or a simple descent into madness tale. Maybe all 3. It is a heck of an experience though. Think of a Pedro Almodóvar movie mixed with a bit of Takashi Miike, maybe with a bit of Haneke in there too, and you may get the picture.It's beautiful yet gruesome. I have to take a mark off for the animal cruelty, as it is bordering on unacceptable levels at times, but it still gets a 7.5/10

The film gives you that heavy, unexplainable, load after watching. There's not much child-friendly scenes going on, and that's what made me love this. There's cruelty and profanity everywhere, with the injection of, on its face, irrelevant scenes which were either intentionally placed to stir our brains, or were unintentionally left by a director who lacked ideas. I have to believe its the former.The Isle actually made me laugh, because the scenes were just so explicit, overt and straightforward that I can't help but be amazed at Kim's confidence. I honestly can't believe he had the guts to do all those stuff. He takes the risk to employ moral and social taboos in his films and that's what I like about him. He doesn't hold back just to please everyone.The story isn't messy, too. There's room for interpretations but the movie still gave away its own essence. Actually, if you were to summarize the story, you can do it in a sentence or two. What made the movie complex is Kim's approach. I think he failed on his approach in 3-iron but he was successful this time. Perhaps because he coursed through the more understandable route--hit what you wan't to say in your movie without lingering, but do it painfully straight to scar the viewer--that's what he did! I think any social and moral controversy you can think of can be found in this movie..rape, prostitution, poverty, animal cruelty, torture, lust, murder, name it. It's all here.I can totally understand how some scenes probably scared and scarred a lot of viewers. And I can totally understand how some might view him as a provocateur. I, on the other hand, believe otherwise. The movie might not be accommodating to those who have weak stomachs, but there lies the beauty of this film.The Isle won't bore you, because its either the explicit sex scenes will hold your attention, or the previous metal-eating, vomit-inducing, scene still consumes your thoughts. This for me, is a timeless masterpiece.

"Seom" is definitely not a film for everybody but surely is a film that will not leave anyone untouched. It's calm and cruel at the same time. The movie is mostly known for its disturbing scenes: you can see, among the others, fishing hooks stuck into a man's throat or in a woman's vagina, or a fish partially eaten alive, but you can also admire some of the most poetic images ever filmed. The film is photographed in a beautiful way (Kim Ki-duk was a painter before being a director), some shots of the lake are stunning and anticipate the ones of "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring". The plot is about an apparently mute girl who works in a fishing resorts, she rents floating houses to fishermen, sell food and provides prostitutes for them, occasionally she sells her body too. A man arrives at the resort, he is a fugitive running from police. A strange bond starts between the man and the girl. After some suicide attempts and some murders the couple will leave the resort on a floating cabin. The narration is slow, but are the images and symbolism to be eloquent The film is superbly acted, especially by Jung Suh who carries on his role credibly without speaking a word. "Seom" is the movie that made me know Kim Ki-duk and I consider it a masterpiece.

This film is meant only for adults and even then not for an average viewer. It has some graphic sex scenes, an almost rape, some animal torture with a little bit of self mutilation thrown in. As I said earlier, definitely not for an average viewer. The story itself is very weird and not everything makes sense. So if you like yours movies to make perfect sense this is probably not the movie for you. All that being said, The Isle has its positive points. The cinematography is beautiful in some parts. And the weird story just keeps you hooked as you don't have any idea what is going to happen next.I would recommend it if you watch a lot of foreign movies as it is quiet an experience and it remains with you for some time which is more than what could be said of a lot of other movies.