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Yu-seok Kim, Jung Suh, Yoosuk Kim, Sung-hee Park, Jae-hyeon Jo ... see more see more... , Hang-Seon Jang , Yeo-jin Kim , Won Seo

Recalling both the erotic tension and the surrealist imagery of Woman of the Dunes, Kim Ki-duk's film is set near a remote lake where men come far and wide to fish on anchored rafts. Running a little ... read more read more...bait-and-tackle shop is the earthy -- almost feral -- young lass Hee-jin (Seoh Jung), who sometimes sells herself for a price to horny fishermen. On one raft is the morose youth Hyun-shik (Kim Yu-seok), who Hee-jin has quietly taken a shine to after saving him from a suicide attempt. His ham-fisted advances are rejected, but after a second try at suicide, in which he puts fishing hooks in his mouth, she nurses him back to health. Soon, a freakily-intense relationship builds between the two in which the jealous Hee-jin starts to brutally dispatch with any competition. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Flixster Users

72% liked it

5,660 ratings

Critics

75% liked it

32 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 29 min.

Directed by: Ki-duk Kim

Release Date: September 1, 2000

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DVD Release Date: May 20, 2003

Stats: 360 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (360)

  • WrenchLT
    November 10, 2011
    WrenchLT
    Kim Ki-duk serves up another dark and twisted love-story themed film set on a fishing lake where a mute woman and a man with a troubled past find attraction with eachother. The movie is very picturesque and beautiful to look at at times, then we have some rather unpleasant scenes... read more that add the disturbing quality to it all. There's a couple of very nasty moments of self-harm involving fish hooks and moments of animal cruelty - fish mutilated, a drowning finch, a dog takes a beating and a frog gets ripped apart. I wouldn't really describe this as an erotic film at all, yes there are sex scenes but they are not romantic and the majority of them are done fully clothed without any titilation. The acting was very good all round, especially by the mute woman, a little bit more background on the male character would have been nice though. But I was really hooked from the start with this one despite the slowness of it all and the very little dialogue. I enjoyed it more than "Bad Guy".
  • imrealgod
    April 14, 2011
    imrealgod
    Unforgettable quotes and dialogues... No, no, wait. The movie speaks volumes through its silence... Damn it. FML that I happen to stumble upon such films these days around.
  • garyX
    August 10, 2010
    garyX
    A suicidal young man who is on the run from the police enters into an obsessive relationship with the woman who services the small fishing community in which he is hiding. The Isle is one of those "arthouse" films which relies far more on a keen visual eye and twisted sexual char... read moreacter study than plot and narrative momentum. It is strikingly shot, full of arresting images and visual analogies and the beautiful Jung Uh is a formidable presence, especially since she does not utter a single word for the duration of the entire film; she is somewhat reminiscent of Asami from Audition if she were a few sandwiches short of a picnic instead of the whole hamper. It also reminded me of Betty Blue for its obsessive and self destructive overtones, showing a relationship that is sado-masochistic but not in the usual gimps and bondage sense of the word. Some of the metaphors are a little clumsy and these damaged characters don't make for the most engaging protagonists but it is certainly an interesting character study that is lovely to look at.
  • 76Majikat
    November 22, 2009
    76Majikat
    The first thing I did immediately after watching this, was to grab the dvd case and read the synopsis to try to understand the hidden theme to the film.

    The dvd synopsis claims ?The Most sexually perverse movie to hit our screens since David Cronenberg?s CRASH?

    Totally untr... read moreue, yes it has sex in the film, but certainly not to the degree of ?CRASH?

    Also says:

    ?Asia Extreme at it?s best? ? sadly I feel it?s Asia Extreme at it?s worse.

    In truth it surprises me I made it to the end, it seems a much loved film, I just can't see the brilliance.
  • arashxak
    February 9, 2009
    arashxak
    Bleak portrayal of human condition & relationships, Not so similar but the main character somehow reminded me of the main character in Haneke's La Pianiste the way she repress her feelings & ends up hurting herself
  • DrBenway
    March 21, 2008
    DrBenway
    A creepy, gruesome, gorgeous, obsessive, violent, nasty relationship.

    A harsh love story between two people beaten down by life and unable to express themselves except through pain. It hardly relies on just the shock value, which it has plenty of, but shows the acts commited a... read mores an ultimate expression of need.

    Great cinematography and Ki-duk Kim's direction are the main reasons I enjoyed it.
  • RossCollinsUK
    February 25, 2007
    RossCollinsUK
    Another very sick Korean movie, shot out-of-focus, and with very little dialogue about a group of people living on floats on a lake.
  • mvieaddict
    July 19, 2009
    mvieaddict
    This is definitely not a film for all tastes. The Isle not only shows some of the most disturbing images on film ( animal mistreatment) but it also makes the viewer work hard to figure out what it all about. Specially the very last scene which I think was put there for each viewe... read morer to make they're own interpretation.There is so little dialogue that this is almost like a silent film..

    There's people violence in the film too, there are some cruel moments in the film, and there's a good deal of dark intrigue.The film just didn't seem quite meaningful to me. I could certainly have done with more dialogue and more compelling characters, this would have helped me understand more of what the film was trying to say. I did not like it. Not my type of film.
  • jimbotender
    August 30, 2008
    jimbotender
    The purpose of shocking is extremely difficult to achieve.Ki-duk overcomes the barriers of cine-language by explicitly showing the human condition...maybe enjoying this as well?All in all,the Isle is poignant and on his top 5.
  • cacutshaw
    February 1, 2007
    cacutshaw
    One of the most disturbing love stories ever. Loved it.

View All Seom (The Isle) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Mark Jenkins
May 21, 2004
Mark Jenkins, Washington Post

Spring, Summer fans should only have their appreciation of that film expanded by seeing this rougher take on similar themes. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 31, 2003
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Beautiful, angry and sad, with a curious sick poetry, as if the Marquis de Sade had gone in for pastel landscapes. Full Review

Glenn Lovell
January 16, 2003
Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News

There is little question that this is a serious work by an important director who has something new to say about how, in the flip-flop of courtship, we often reel in when we should be playing out. Full Review

Carla Meyer
January 3, 2003
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle

A gorgeous and grotesque Korean film by director Kim Ki-Duk, who seems torn by his artistic and exploitive impulses. Full Review

Jan Stuart
August 23, 2002
Jan Stuart, Newsday

Once [Kim] begins to overplay the shock tactics and bait-and-tackle metaphors, you may decide it's too high a price to pay for a shimmering picture postcard. Full Review

V.A. Musetto
August 23, 2002
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Daring, mesmerizing and exceedingly hard to forget.

Stephen Holden
August 22, 2002
Stephen Holden, New York Times

As gory as the scenes of torture and self-mutilation may be, they are pitted against shimmering cinematography that lends the setting the ethereal beauty of an Asian landscape painting. Full Review

Michael Atkinson
August 20, 2002
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

I don't think I've been as entranced and appalled by an Asian film since Shinya Tsukamoto's Iron Man. Full Review

Nick Schager
May 4, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

A creepy, gruesome, gorgeous and flabbergasting treatise on romantic obsession and violent, nasty male-female relationships. Full Review

Harry Guerin
October 8, 2004
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

It's the safest of bets that this is one Asian film that won't get a Hollywood remake. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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