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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.

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!

Not unlike the Oscar Wilde play from which my "One Line Summary" for this comment is co-opted the director of `Address Unknown' requires his audience to think.

In all of the Kim Ki-duk films I have seen (The Isle, Address Unknown, Bad Guy) what lies on the surface differs greatly from what lies beneath it. He is working in a language of metaphor and allegory with characters that range from caricature to archetype to fodder. By fodder I mean they are impenetrable and near impossible to empathize/sympathize with for the sole reason that emotional attachment is not the director's intention. He is creating a fictional world made to comment on the world we live in.

By exploring the eclectic residents of an isolated South Korean village in close proximity to an American military base Ki-duk is dealing with a number of issues such as globalization (the base, the bullies who moved to America), language (the theme of English, the comic interlude of the Playboy translation), gender (obvious), race (obvious), history (that family whose father turned out to be a traitor, the constant references to the past from the veterans), tradition (the archery), relationships (Korean girl and U.S. solider), war (obvious) and violence (obvious). The bleak, violent, at times repulsive world the film takes place in is so over-the-top that the audience can't help but think that it is just a means to an end.

In films like `The Isle' and `The Bad Guy' the black humour and sarcasm are more evident. `Address Unknown' is a tad more subtle but there are more than enough hints to indicate the film should not be taken at face value. An excellent example is the constant, almost laughable violence.

Kim Ki-duk is one of a handful of directors striving to create intelligent cinema that is accessible as well. The East is bursting at the seams with talent and I really hope it starts to get the recognition it deserves.

I love this movie! OK, it's horrible, it's disgusting, watching it made

me sick...and saying that I experienced physical pain is not a lie.

There is no happiness in this film. Everyone is depressed and

everyone has difficult problems to deal with, and those problems

don't get solved, but rather get worse during the film. But this is

why I love it! A film that can give you such strong feelings, even if

the strong feelings are depression and pain, is a GOOD film!

Might be good to see this if you think YOU have problems. =)

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.