Sum

Kim Ki Duk knows how to catch you. At the beginning, when you watch this movie (as when you watch other Kim's movies), you need some time...hold your thoughts, don't express your opinion yet, just wait. After a few minutes, you'll find yourself in another world, watching single details in the images, discovering colors, following characters you already love, and feel related to. "Breath" doesn't make any exception: the wife and the condemned become your friends, or relatives, and you feel their emotions, you are happy, and then sad, and then again happy, and in the end really sad. And you do it with these characters. Be careful, you'll bring them home after the show, and this movie (and its feelings), they wont leave you, for hours.

Ki-Duk Kim has done it again. The South Korean writer/director is best known universally through his 2003 minimalist, Buddhism-inspired fable 'Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring' and once again he demonstrates that with very minimal resources he can create a story at once complex and compelling in this new film BREATH. Not only are his ideas for film unique in the technical aspects, his concept of telling a story is always surprisingly subtle.

Jang Ji (Chen Chang) is on death row in a Korean prison for the murder of his family. He shares the bleak cell with three other prisoners, one of whom (In-Hyeong Gang) is young and obviously in love with and is very possessive of Jian Ji. Jian Ji attempts suicide and the media focuses on the transfer of the prisoner to the hospital where he barely survives his self- inflicted stab wound to the throat. One woman on the outside, Yeon (Zia - or Ji-a Park) watches the coverage on the media in silence (: she is married to a man (Jung-Woo Ha) who apparently is having an extramarital affair and pays little attention to her, finding Yeon's obsession with the prisoner 's exposure in the media this foolish and repulsive. They have a young daughter who observes the lack of interaction between her parents. Yeon is a sculptor and quietly works at her art, watching the coverage of Jian-Ji's plight. Something in her relates to the prisoner and she begins making trips to the prison where she sets up the visitor room with wall photographs, paintings and flower props that look like Spring. It is in this atmosphere that she meets the handcuffed Jian Ji and there is obvious exchanged compassion between them. She returns to the prison, each time to visit Jian Ji in a room she has transformed to Summer and to Autumn and with each visit she sings a seasonal song of love to him. The relationship becomes physical: of note, in a room behind one way glass a prison official (Ki-duk Kim himself, as though he were directing the romance) observes the trysts. Yeon finds evidence, a broach, of her husband's affair and confronts him: the husband explores the reason Yeon visits the prison and follows her, observing her passion behind the one way mirror. The husband parts with his lover, demanding Yeon do the same, and the last visit to the prison is a Winter scene where Jian-Ji and Yeon consummate their passion. The ending is a surprise to all and sharing that would spoil the effect of the film: the key is in the title.

Ki-Duk Kim weaves so many subliminal aspects into this film, a technique few other directors can match. He explores alienation, contemporary relationships between husbands and wives, prison tensions that result in other kinds of relationships, and again uses the cycle of season changes to mark the steps of his story. His cast is small and incredibly fine. This is a very small film with a very big message. It is a gem.

Grady Harp

It's no secret that I have little affection with Korean cinema. It's just not my cup of tea. But among the rubble of popular Korean cinema there's a true cineast pumping out brilliant cinema at a dazzling rate. Kim Ki-duk is a regular art-house favorite and rightfully so. This weekend I had the pleasure of watching his latest effort on the big screen. screen cap from breath

So far, I've seen all of Ki-duk's films. Over the years he's made little changes to his success formula, only visually his films have become a lot more mature. Breath continues this tradition, ignoring the little misstep of his previous film Shi Gan. Ki-duk reaches back to his "quiet cinema" and with success.

Breath has it all. Troubled characters, little dialog, rough around the edges and strange happenings. But underneath that barren surface lies a more subtle, warm interior. Not exactly new, but it's the first time Ki-duk plays with this emotion so openly and the change of heart is notable throughout the film.

At its core, Breath tells the story of four broken characters. No director that is more able to create a setup where unlikeable characters can win the sympathy of an audience. Because not a single one of the characters in Breath is free from sin. The prisoner killed his wife and kid, his fellow prisoner hurts him because he can't express his love, the mother cheats on her husband with the prisoner and the husband mistreats his own wife and has a flirt on the side. And thus starts a story of a love between four people.

Ki-duk brings his characters alive with rather unknown actor, though they are really some of the best modern Asian cinema has to offer. Especially Chen Chang bring a lot to this film, adding yet another strong film to his impressive list of acting jobs. Chang's wife is also very strong in her role, hardly speaking but playing her emotions instead of telling them. Class-A stuff. screen cap from breath

Visually, Ki-duk is still improving with each film. While his earlier films were too unfinished to be considered visually impressive, his newer work has this delicate touch that enters every shot. Ki-duk's timing is also improving, and his eye for interesting compositions is still functioning rather well. The film is never absolutely stunning but the quiet, subtle images bear well with the rest. He matches his visuals with a soundtrack that enhances this delicate feeling.

As an interesting surprise, Ki-duk inserts several musical intermezzos. He also revives his seasonal structure and couples a song to each season. The happy mood coming from those scenes is in sharp contrast with the actual feelings of the characters. A nice addition that reliefs, but at the same time hurts just as much.

I guess Breath is a little more playful than his previous films overall. There's of course Ki-duk himself playing director behind his screen in prison. It's an interesting extra layer that made me smile when I noticed it. And it leads to a strong scene where he cuts from the love scene in prison to the father and kid playing outside in the snow. I also liked the "acted" musical intermezzos, which add a second level of acting. Beautiful scenes with very contrasting feelings.

Breath is a strong entry in Ki-duk's ever growing list of films, positioning itself among his best work. While progress between his films is slow and his work hardly brings anything new to the table, his unique position in the world of cinema makes this of little importance. He keeps improving himself and Breath illustrates this well. Awesome film, not really my preferred kind of cinema and because of that all the better for making me love this film and its characters. 4.5*/5.0*

Filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, is widely known for his films that offer loads of violence. He has been Controversies favorite child. But, in his 2007 flick 'Soom' aka 'Breath', he tries his hand in an awkward, yet charming love-story, that hardly offers any bloodshed.

'Soom' is about love, redemption, sadness & lies. The lead characters share an outstanding novelty, when-ever they meet eye to eye. It's a tale of a notorious condemned criminal & a housewife. The emotions they discover, the love that is build, comes out brilliantly, at most parts.

The only shortcoming, is it's finale. It's weird, and leaves no impact. This 80-minute feature, offers 60-minutes of pure genius, but falters in it's final 20-minutes.

Kim Ki-duk delivers as a filmmaker. He has directed the film with complete understanding. The Cinematography is striking. The performances by all of the actors, are memorable.

On the whole, A film that is Worth-Watching, without a shed of doubt. It's so different, and so amusing at times, you can't help but like this attempt.

South Korean author Kim Ki Duk is famous for the manner in which he takes an obscure idea to weave a convincing story around it.He is so good at his craft that even highly improbable ideas are transformed into remarkably good films which not only provide wholesome entertain but also make potent cultural statements about South Korean society.By making such socially relevant films,he reveals what kind of people South Koreans are.This is also the case with Kim Ki Duk's film Soom/Breath.It is a different matter if people start to take to heart the behavior of South Korean people based on his films.This is a film where viewers get to see a frustrated wife wearing her heart on her sleeve.After critically acclaimed "Bin Jip",this is the second film by Kim Ki Duk which talks about a neglected wife with a highly unusual end.A positive thing about this film is that despite initial differences matters are sorted amicably between a bickering couple.Tit for tat seems to be the film's message as Kim Ki Duk suggests that if a man cheats his wife, there are high chances that she would also do the same.