Nov. 2nd, 2006

alexandral: (A love to kill - rain - Do I care about)


A long while ago, I did a post about films definitely worthy to watch, but too disturbing for yours truly’s comfortable consumption. I am afraid I have a winner in this category. As I am so fascinated with all things Korean at the moment (And I do not lie to myself and admit that this has all to do with amazing Bi/Rain), I was looking for some interesting film to watch on the weekend and came across "The Isle".

Director Kim Ki-duk: South Korean director, born in the working class family in 1960, he started working at the factory at the age of 17. When he reached the age of 30 (so much for the late start!!) he went to Paris, buying a ticket by collecting every penny he had. In Paris Kim Ki-duk lived on selling his paintings on the street and took part in the script-writing contests. The break-through came for him in 1993 with the the top award from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting. The most inetersting thing about Kim Ki-duk is that though he is apparently very well recognised and critically received internationally, he fails to impress Korean audiences. I actually don’t find this unlikely at all, considering the nature of his films.
Some of the films he has made:

“Spirng, Summer, Autumn, Winter.. and Spring”
“3-Iron”
“Coastguard”
“Samaritan Girl”
“The Bow”
“Time”

The story: The film takes place on a remote fishing resort – a beautiful lake with floating huts for the people who want to come and fish. As any beautiful lake, it has it’s own Spirit – mute girl Jung Suh who makes her living by selling all sorts of things to fishers, including herself. When a young man troubled by his past memories comes to the Lake to hide from the police, Jung Suh saves him from suicide attempt and becomes obsessed with him.

Actors The actress playing the main heroine Jung Suh, Hee-Jin, is beyond words. This is probably the first time in my memory when a character who did not utter a single word during the cause of the film managed to keep my attention absolutely captivated. Usually in films, if there is a character unable to speak, we get his/her thoughts translated into words, like in “Dear Frankie”. What we get in “The Isle” is complete silence, the honest way to feel the world in which a mute person could be living in.

Allegory There were many many levels of allegory in “The Isle”. If I felt I can stomach watching this film again, it could be interesting to see more of these levels unravel. Initially I thought that the main theme is about the nature of love, about the inherent cruelty of any romantic relationship (OK, I don’t agree with this personally, but I can see the point!). People go about sticking fishing hooks into each other and maiming each other and themselves in passing. It doesn’t make any difference that the wounds we create are invisible and the hooks which we use are invisible too. This doesn’t make it all any less painful.

Another level of allegory I remembered later, the old-time metaphor that sea (or lake in this case) is a representation of the human conglomerate/population. And here it all connects with the drowning as a metaphor for loosing ourselves in this world.

Disturbing Part Saying all this, oh boy! “The Isle” had some of the most disturbing scenes EVER! I am still considering if the use of these scenes was justified in a sense of the message Kim Ki-duk was trying to convey, but at the moment my answer is “No”. Some of the cruel and painful to watch scenes did come across to me as just pure fascination with cruelty on the aprt of director. (only my own opinion)

PS My next film to watch is “Kung fu Hustle” That should be a happy film, right???

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