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One of the reasons I enjoyed this film as much as I did is because it is one of those rare films that sticks with you! After I finished watching it, I felt compelled to stay up way later then I should have because I just could not stop talking about it! There was just so much going on! It was so powerful...dark, emotional, complex, intense. However, unlike most reviews that I have read, I noticed a few comedic elements as well. It was kind of a sad funny, but they were scenes that literally gave you a moment to catch your breath and laugh before being thrown back into the darkness... which I felt really made the film that much more powerful! The director is just so talented it's sick! No pun intended!

The movie centers on the lives of rundown rural community of South Koreans who happen to live proximate to a U.S. military base. The lives and stories of several citizens intertwine in this bleak and gritty flick. There is a Korean woman and her half-black son, the product of a relationship with a G.I. Another local makes a living collecting and killing dogs he sells for food. A young girl lives a detached life but develops a friendship with an introverted friend who dotes on her, when he's not being beaten and bullied by local toughs. There are more characters in this tale, but most all of them have somehow been adversely affected by the omnipresent US soldiers who drift, comically at times, in and out of their existence. And, the movie overflows with brutality, mostly of Koreans against each other. At some point, most assuredly near the end of the film, the tragedy is so overwhelming it becomes lugubrious. How many bad things can happen to a small community? In this movie there is no end to it, and one wonders what is the point.

Kim Ki-Duk has been one of my favorite directors for a long time - or so I thought. The intensity of films like "Seom" or "Bin-Jip" was exicting when I was younger but the older I get, the more do I feel exhausted by the endless suffering and violence in this man's movies.

This whole film is about a bunch of people in South Korea who all hate themselves or each other, who are miserable and mean and use every opportunity to hurt or humiliate each other.

Non of them is sympathetic, not even the ones who are clearly supposed to be rather sympathetic (the women, as expected).

Men seem to have given up on things and women all want to learn english and move to america, the holy and chosen land where rivers are filled with milk and honey, or at least make out with an american soldier who is stationed in South Korea in order to humiliate their husbands or hurt their fathers or brothers.

There isn't even any plot, let alone a resolution. You get implicated animal cruelty and animal abuse at times when characters don't insult each other or proceed to kill their mothers or puppies.

I don't think I've gotten softer (although I really appreciate some nature documentary more than ever now) but I kinda grew out of watching people or even animals suffer, even there is a supposed touch of social commentary in it.

Wow. I never felt so scarred after leaving the cinema and seeing a good film. Doom is making it's appearance and it will not go away even after the very end. The whole setting of the film is marvelous. Desolate, hopeless and there's no way out of the barren landscape. All persons are victim of this place, knowing they cannot escape, with all consequences. The fact that those who should have gotten it don't, makes it a very bitter ride. I watched every second, hopeless but fixed to the screen. Only minor is the somewhat overacting of some of the featured American soldiers, but okay still a perfect 9 out of 10. Highly recommended, another fine piece of Korean cinema.

Do you love animals? Have you ever ate dog meat? Beware, this film can make you nauseous. This film has an outer cover of a very light drama. But, remember, this is a Kim Ki-duk movie, so intense and deeply emotional. I really love his films for the fact that how creative he is around emotions and creating situations that breaks the cliché and our expectations. Amazing movie.