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This is definitely not a film for all tastes. "The Isle" not only shows some of the most disturbing images on film but it also makes the viewer work hard to try and figure out what it all means. Especially the very last scene which I think was put there for each viewer to make they're own interpretation, as Kubrick did for the end of "2001, A Space Odyssey". Suh Jung plays Hee-Jin who rents out floating fish cabins and supplies bait, food and prostitutes. She also is a prostitute and she never utters a single word in the film. Some have called her character a mute but towards the end of the film she screams so I am thinking her silence might be of her own doing! She is attracted to one of the renters who is suicidal and is hiding out. Suh Jungs performance is very strong and its difficult to carry a film without speaking a word and the actor has to rely to a great length on how well and interesting the story is. Her performance reminds me of Isabelle Huppert in "The Piano Teacher". The amount of pain between the two characters is what they have in common. This is a film about relationships in a very strange setting with two strange people. Each character has a scene involving fish hooks and when they take place its up to the other character to try and ease the pain. Good cinematography with shots of the lake at dawn or sunset with mist and fog on the water. Very tough film to view with all the self mutilation and animal cruelty. For those of you who have viewed Asian films before then you should check out this very well made film.

Seom aka The Isle is written and directed by Korean film maker Ki-duk Kim. This bizarre film tells about happenings in strange fishing resort in which fishermen live and fish in floating cabins at daytime, and have fun and sex with local prostitutes at night time. The film's protagonist is an attractive, but very mysterious female (Suh Jung) who never talks, and works as some kind of "boat girl" who gets the food and prostitutes for the fishermen and other similar activities with her little boat. There is minimal amount of dialogue in The Isle, and it is hard to describe this ultra bizarre film after just one viewing.

The visuals are very astonishing and stunning as the settings are so atmospheric and natural. The calm mist and smoke above the water is very moody and even surreal, and this all is intensified even further by great use of camera, occasionally very weird angles and total feel of peace and magic. Blue is the main color in the film, and it is equally brilliant-looking as in many Hong Kong thrillers like Dr. Lamb by Danny Lee and Red to Kill by Billy Tang. The colors are always fantastic in Asian films, and The Isle once again proves and shows this. This film is a delight to the eye..at least before the infamous scenes involving fishing hooks.

The director has said that he wanted to depict relationships between men and women with this film, and that the film tells something about how dependent were are on each other, and especially on another sex. Once the first horrific "hook scene" comes, the only cure for his pain is the main female, who by giving him carnal pleasure, takes away or diminishes his pain - and vice versa later in the film. I think that this film is more feminist since the very surreal closing scene is so underlining as the man finally finds the "truth" and source of all life. Another reviewer thought that the end scene is gratuitous and only there to confuse things even further, and that may be the case, but still I want to interpret it as above, and it is very personal scene in depicting that eternal truth. Seeing is believing...

I think there's lot more than just this in the core of The Isle. The film really tells something about the relationship between humans and nature and nature's sources. There are many scenes depicting man exploiting nature and its inhabitants, and I think that the forthcoming scenes of mutilation are also symbolic as things turn upside down: humans become the victims of what they have practised and see the results. At this point, it is necessary to stress that there are many scenes of actual killing and off putting abuse of animals (mainly fish) which I, also, think are gratuitous since the message of the film is pretty hard to take since the film does the same exploitations it depicts committed by its characters. Then again, the killings show the real face of our world, since in order to stay alive, we have to use nature's resources and there's nothing wrong in that. So what's wrong in my opinion is that the animals in The Isle are not killed without pain and suffering, and that is not right nor human since I think that no living creature should die painfully or tortured. I wanted to think that the animals were not mutilated and killed in the film for real, but it all looks sadly too real. Still, I have to find the film's merits even though it becomes far more difficult when I remember these "animal snuff" scenes, that are unnecessarily explicit, albeit meant to be symbolic, which they of course are, if one can still accept this after the horrific imagery.

This film reminded me pretty much of Japanese film Naked Blood, which also is very beautiful and surreal film, but soon the horrific scenes of self mutilation and ultra splatter are on screen before the viewer's eyes. The self mutilations committed by fish hooks in The Isle are very gruelling to say the least, so this film will make the weakest viewers faint, as many festival screenings have proven. They are so sickeningly effective I wanted to stop thinking about what it would feel like to actually do something like that. Fish hooks are very small, but like Stuart Gordon has said (about the finger biting moment in Re-Animator), the smallest things may be the most horrific in many cases. These fish hooks really are symbolic as the humans are "turned to fishes" and get to see what they've done and created.

The Isle is very weird, bizarre, calm and also disturbing piece of cinema, and only minority of cinema lovers will stomach and appreciate films like The Isle. As I stressed earlier, I am sorry about the fact of animal mutilation presented in the film, and without those scenes, I would probably give more stars in the rating. Now it gets little less even if I wanted to give it more as a piece of art. 8/10 and to understand more about this film, it has to be seen many times since it unfolds pretty slowly.

Wow, where to start with this. Ki Duk Kim has always been a divisive director, with his films showing slow burning, very natural, almost spiritual human traits. This though is like a magnified version of a Ki Duk Kim film. It's low budget, set in a single location, stunningly beautiful, very gruesome in parts, explicit and controversial. It centres around a lonely woman (Hee Jin) who delivers bait to tourist fisherman. What we see unfold is a symbolism heavy ride into a twisted / tumultuous relationship between Hee Jin and a visitor. It's full of breathtaking cinematography, sparse dialogue and one of the most stomach churning suicide attempts I've ever seen on screen. As usual with Ki Duk Kim, water as a symbol is featured heavily, and so are animals and nature. Quite why certain little creatures are sacrificed on screen I'm not sure though. A warning to anyone who is easily offended by animal cruelty - don't watch this movie.

What does it all mean in the end? I'm torn between it being an entire metaphor for how difficult relationships can be / an exploration into gender roles or a simple descent into madness tale. Maybe all 3. It is a heck of an experience though. Think of a Pedro Almodóvar movie mixed with a bit of Takashi Miike, maybe with a bit of Haneke in there too, and you may get the picture.

It's beautiful yet gruesome. I have to take a mark off for the animal cruelty, as it is bordering on unacceptable levels at times, but it still gets a 7.5/10

There are two immutable truths in matters of the heart. None more desirable than those who do not want you; none less desirable than those you could possess with ease. Somewhere between these two axioms fall the doomed lovers of this spellbinding offering. Beautiful Hee-Jin (Jung) is the grounds keeper for a dingy Korean fishing resort, selling snacks, bait, her tits 'n' ass, to the tourists she ferries between flotillas of fishing huts.

Fugitive Hyun-Shik (Yoo-Suk) shows up one day, shivering, suicidal, utterly alone. Another lost soul, Hee-Jin's smitten because, unlike her sleazy clientèle, Hyun-Shik's different. He doesn't abuse her or make fun of her muteness. And he fashions exquisite little wire sculptures for her, as they study one another across the rain-spattered lake. He in his unreachable desolation, she in her shore-side cabin, cat-like and inscrutable. The first time he tries to kill himself, by swallowing fishing hooks, she brings him back to life – to love – the only way she knows. From suicide to sex in three minutes. And nobody is going to get in her way. Director Kim Ki-duk, responsible for surprise Art-house hit Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring, has crafted another beautiful-horrible movie; gorgeous to look at, and often between splayed fingers. It's as minimal and soulful as a haiku. And as painful as falling in love

I'm fast becoming a fan of Korean director Kim Ki-duk; this is the second film of his I've watched after SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER...AND SPRING. The two films have much in common in terms of style and setting, but THE ISLE is something else entirely. While SPRING was a heartwarming story that championed the Buddhist lifestyle, THE ISLE is an extraordinarily dark tale of obsession and broken psychology.

One again, Kim Ki-duk has crafted an expertly visual film; THE ISLE looks fantastic and the setting of those floating holiday lettings is an exceptional one. The characters are painted in broad strokes but this makes them thoroughly interesting and it goes without saying that the subdued acting is fantastic. This is a slow burner of a film, yes, but a thoroughly satisfying one all the same, in which the atmosphere is interspersed with some eye-popping set-pieces; if this doesn't put you off fishing then I don't know what will.

Although the infliction of pain is upsetting in the extreme, there are always good reasons for what occurs here, making this as far from "torture porn" as you'll get. The only issue I have with it really is the real-life animal cruelty, something I'm dead set against, but the UK DVD thankfully excises much of this material. In any case, I can't wait to check out more from the director.

I do not know how I stumbled upon this film by writer/director Ki-duk Kim, but I am sure glad that I did. The cinematography was absolutely incredible as the story takes place on a lake, where cabins are rented for fishermen.

Jung Suh plays the woman who travels from fishing cabin to fishing cabin selling coffee, bait, and sometimes more. She never says one word the entire film.

She forms an attraction for a man (Yoosuk Kim) who is troubled to the point that he is contemplating suicide.

The film is sometimes very grotesque, or brutal, and sometimes very funny, as a man interrupts sex to land a fish and then goes back to finishing his sexual act.

A strange ending and we really never know the whole stories, but it was fascinating to watch.

Now this is a great example of horror. Not your slasher, undead walking, predictable spoon fed story. Instead, the Isle's simple setting proves that looks can be deceiving as calm waters and clear blue skies belie the murky depths and secrets hidden within.

I never realized the symbolism in this movie: fishing, bait, the simple action of simply tossing back an unwanted catch back in the water. Scenes most striking and prominent contained little or even no dialogue. The soundtrack is subtle, yet highly effective in establishing mood. Then again, anyone who has gone fishing can appreciate the tranquil, and peaceful state which can be very rewarding. How about human relationships? How about the bad times or deep hurts so traumatizing which cannot be shared with anyone. Do we walk burdened carrying deep pains like say a wounded scaled fish? Although it may be wounded, it still goes on swimming in its daily routine. Our two main characters throughout the film really catch you offguard. Let's just say "misery loves company". This horror is more psychological and more tangible than what you would usually see on screen.

I was impressed by Jung Suh who really displays the strength of Hee-Jin, and at the same time shows a frail, tragic side. Her routine actions like steering the boat, tending to the renters' are done so convincingly that you feel like you're at the lake watching true events unfold. Credit also Ki-Duk Kim for directing this without making it into a sappy love story and not going overboard or too artsy. Be warned: the Isle is laced with dark humor and will have you thinking about it after it is done. I really appreciate films that are able to do that.

After having seen "Bad guy" (by the same director) I obtained this movie expecting different and better, and what I seemed to find was rather a toned down version of that film. The premise of the movie is one set on a lake where a woman rents out floating chalets to men for fishing which really double up as brothels for a "fun" weekend away for the clients. The landlady of this business never says a word in the entire movie, but rather uses her emotions to convey what she feels, and into her world steps a suicidal cop whom she begins to fall in love with.

The story unfolds as the landlady and the cop begin to cover up for each other, whilst the landlady, being repressed emotional, begins to open up but in a dark manner. Jealousy, hurt and fear lead to grave consequences, and the pair have to further sink into the mire to survive, but not before finding that they both need each other just as much to keep going.

A difficult movie, which seems to treat women too much as sex objects alone, whilst some of the sex scenes can be a little too graphic. Additionally, the short bursts of violence are unnecessary and take away from the movie, whilst the rape scene will pander too much to those we shouldn't be encouraging. On the other hand, the main two leads are absolutely great in their respective roles and carry their roles incredibly well whilst the film is simply eye-candy in its settings and looks, which are the two saving graces.....

Overall, a mixed movie... Wouldn't strongly recommend at all, even if you are a big big fan of Asian cinema like myself....

Another movie that has attained a little notoriety from the number of walk-outs at festival screenings, and even a couple of audience members passing out. Whilst it is not hard to see why, it is a shame that is what the film is known for, as there is much more to it than *those* scenes. A mute girl makes a living running a kind of retreat, where men can rent a floating cabin on a lake in the mountains and spend their days fishing, and their nights sleeping with prostitutes. The mute girl makes ends meet by taking on this role as well. A young man arrives and rents a cabin, clearly not their for the fish. We see that he is tortured and suicidal - you wouldn't guess why from the 5 second flashback that is meant to explain it, but the 'filmography' section of the DVD explains it in more detail. The mute girl is drawn to the man's desperation, perhaps feeling sympathy/protectiveness, or perhaps simply relating to another deeply unhappy soul.

The relationship between these two characters, and several other characters that come to the lake for one reason or another, is the main focus of the film. The difficulty some people have with relationships is the topic being studied, particularly when they are not happy in their relationship with themselves. The inner feelings of the characters receive expression in scenes whose 'shock factor' has drawn inevitable comparisons with Takashi Miike, especially AUDITION. Director Kim Ki Duk doesn't seem to mind these comparisons:

"KK: I saw Audition at Toronto and that movie made me realize that there is someone else out there like me. We are two of a kind"

If you couldn't sit through the last half hour of AUDITION, you'll probably want to give THE ISLE a miss too. It's also definitely not a film for animal lovers... there is absolutely zero chance of the film being released intact in the UK or the US, as the treatment of the animals in the film (mainly fish) is far outside what is permissible in either country's regulations.

But there is much more to THE ISLE than the scenes that make keeping your eyes on screen a challenge. In between, the film is absolutely ravishing, and will keep your eyes glued there. The setting of the lake, mostly bathed in deep fog, and the fantastic wordless performance from actress Jung Suh (and the rest of the cast) are beautiful and powerful. The loneliness and sadness of the characters is reflected brilliantly in the total isolation of the floating cabins. There is a deep message in the film, and it is presented to us beautifully.

Like Miike, Kim Ki-Duk makes us work for our reward when we watch THE ISLE... if you want to take away the beauty of his film, you have to be willing to pay the price of the horror. Thoroughly recommended!

One note: the film is another one of those great films that just doesn't know how to end itself. Actually, we get the perfect ending... a nice long shot and a fade to white and it should have been over, but

apparently Kim Ki Duk wasn't quite satisfied to leave it at that and tacks on two extra scenes, about a minute of footage, that are simply inexplicable and serve only to confuse and spoil the mood. My recommendation... when it fades to white, simply stop the DVD

There isn't much I feel I can say about this movie. It is beautiful, yet boring; metaphoric, yet obvious; brutal, yet gentle. It combines many of the classic story lines in a weird and outworldy way.

Basically, it is a movie about love, but the people involved are introverted tortured individuals. I believe that the title points to the way each character in the movie is an island of its own, a metaphor that is laid out in the physical world as rental floating cabins on a lake, and the girl that services this world is some sort of very dark mermaid.

However, I feel that it goes too arty for my tastes. Between the occasional feelings of nausea, horror, pity and anxiety, there are long periods of boredom. I can hardly identify with most of the characters, as they belong to an underground world that I am not part of.

Bottom line: a movie for Asian fans, for Kim Ki Duk fans, for movie art fans.

"The Isle" (aka "Seom") is somewhat of an acquired taste of movie, and it does stand out in the South Korean cinema as being very original and bold in its own way. And with that said, then this is the type of movie that doesn't appeal to just everyone in the audience.

The story is about a mute woman named Hee-Jin who works at a fishing resort, where she sell bait, food and even herself to the visiting fishermen. She falls in love with the reclusive Hyun-Shik, whom is running from the police.

There isn't a lot of dialogue in the entire movie, which could be odd for some people. But what the movie doesn't have in dialogue, it more than makes up for in visual presentation. Director Ki-Duk Kim really managed to tell a beautiful story in "The Isle".

The acting talents in "The Isle" were also doing great work with their individual roles, especially since there were not all that much dialogue, so there was a higher pressure in terms of acting through gestures, body language and mood. And especially Jung Suh (playing Hee-Jin) was impressive in "The Isle", as she performed phenomenally.

It is the visuals in "The Isle" that makes it a formidable movie. It is so well-filmed and the acting talents all contributed to make this a memorable movie. Some scenes are quite graphic and brutal to watch, but they are presented in a great way and they are essential to the movie.

"The Isle" is a unique moment in the South Korean cinema, and it is a movie that you should sit down to watch if you enjoy Asian movies.

I'll say this much--This director is all about RAW images...things most of us are not ready to confront head-on. Images of sex, suicide, murder, and people "relieving themselves" are constantly bombarding the viewer, which makes me wonder if the director was trying to communicate the concept of relief or release. Although I don't think that I could ever see this movie again, I will say that the director does have a good eye. There were some really nice shots and "picture moments" in the film (the fans, the wire fish in their hair), but the story left me needing more (strictly in the since that we were left asking ourselves "what the heck did we just see?").

Note: If you have a tendency to gag or vomit easily...don't see this film.

The Isle is a hard film to evaluate. It pulls the viewer's emotions in every different conceivable direction, from empathy to outright horror and everything in between. After it ended I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or to throw up; I didn't know if I was sad or happy or hopelessly angry. Either way, the film's images will probably haunt me for many years to come.

The film is beautifully photographed, making excellent use of the isolated fishing lake setting. All of the actors are perfect, even in scenes more painfully grotesque than anything I've seen in a film before. I simply cannot imagine the artistic process that went on during production-- how did the filmmakers raise the money to make this film, and how did they direct the actors to create such convincing performances from such outlandish material? And whose idea was it to end it like that?

I loved many things about this film, but I find it hard to recommend because of a few scenes involving really heartless animal cruelty. A fish is mutilated and partially eaten while it's still alive; a dog is yanked around by its collar and slapped; another fish is jolted with electrodes. Of course the humans in the film suffer much worse misfortunes, but the characters mostly deserve what they get, whereas the animals do not. Also, the scenes of human violence are created using makeup effects, but the animals have no such luck-- as far as I can tell, they're really slicing flesh off a live fish and eating it.

All I can really say is, see The Isle and make up your own mind about it. It will cause completely different individual reactions in every single member of the audience, and if you love it, good for you. If you hate it, I think I can understand why.

The fishermen live in small cottages at the lake and a mute girl sells equipment in a kiosk at the shore, she is having the hots for one of the guys and is getting quite a bit jealous when other ladies sees him. They both get hooked, in more than one way and when the hooks must be pulled out again - OUCH! Then they are moving into Takashi Miike territory. And then there is the odd murder going on. This is a gorgeous looking movie moving at a pretty slow pace. This is not everyones cup of tea, but sit back and enjoy the great pictures, gorehounds will be bored and the squeemish should stay clear of this one. 7/10

Seom (The Isle) was the first movie I saw by the South Corean director Ki-Duk Kim and I liked it. It's about a strange lonely woman who rents floating fish huts for people to sleep in. In addition to food and coffee she also provides sexual services for the men.

The story gets going when a retired policeman, who has murdered his girlfriend arrives to the place of floating huts. A strange romantic relationship build between these two loners and sex becomes a drug for them - a medicine to mental and physical injuries.

An important theme of the movie is fishing, in my opinion Ki-Duk compares fishing to relationships; you need bait to lure the catch, just as one example. The movie analyzes love and relationships: do they always end up to a disaster or can they save a human's life. I'm sure I will come back to this film, because of its several layers.

There's not much of a dialog in this film, which to my mind is good. Because it's the reason why this movie is so capturing and it shows the visual skills of Ki-Duk Kim. Of course there is also always a reason to choose the quiet way, for the Belgian Dardenne brothers it is film-philosophy for Ki-Duk it is probably the style of narrative, but also the thing what silence does to the observation of the viewer.

The thing that bothers me with this film is the abuse of animals. I don't know whether the scenes were real or faked, but anyways they were pretty nasty. I can watch almost anything (Le Sang Des Betes), but it just doesn't feel right. Even that the scenes were important for the film - Ki-Duk's symbolicism.

So get ready for something a little different, something disturbing and yet so interesting. I wouldn't recommend this to the most sensitive viewers because it has a lot of brutal and violent scenes. Set your mind ready for some symbolism and good extraordinary narrative.

Ki-duk Kim's "Seom"/"The Isle" has to be one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen.The cinematography,the silence and the themes under the surface are incredible.The film explores human relationships and the pain of being in love,and being loved.Both characters(Hyun-shik and Hin-jin)are lost human beings searching for love.They crave love,yet shun it when it comes to them,as they are deeply aware of the destructive qualities it brings out in them.Suh-Shik Hwang's cinematography is absolutely beautiful and captures many impressive visuals.Still there are some horrific images that will shock casual viewer,so the viewer should be prepared.9 out of 10.

A memorable setting – a lake with several tiny floating homes. The fishermen (and visitors) also use the floats for liaisons with prostitutes – whether the local girl who ferries people across and brings coffee-to-go with her boat, or the more modern whores ordered in from town. Out local girl forms a bit of an obsession with one of the local weirdos, and he with her. After rescuing each other in various ways, our attention is turned towards gruesome things you can do with fish hooks inserted into orifices. The Isle teeters between serious cinema – much of it stunningly shot with an impressive minimalism– and voyeuristic sensationalism. As the plot ultimately fails to hang together, sensationalism maybe tips the scales. What is doubly amusing is how the filmmakers (or their Korean censors) seem happy to show us the most blood curdling sexual perversion, yet shy away from any on-screen genitalia, even when it is quite intrinsic to what is going on (I'll leave the gory details to your imagination).

I confess I was expecting a lot more from this movie, but overall, you cannot deny that it's a very good work. The pace of the film adjusts precisely to the surrounding, and the actors performances fit smoothly. The main virtue of 'The Island' is its global feel: nothing stands against anything. You just like the concept or not.

And what about the concept? Well, if you like metaphoric storytelling you've got plenty here. Every five minutes there's an allegory. Fortunately, they don't get in the way of the story. Not until the very end, which is one of the reasons I'm subtracting points from the movie score. Another one is the blatant underdevelopment of the first stage of the two main characters' relationship. It hadn't even started when it was already ending. It takes away so much power from the film... To end with the shortcomings, I felt the movie wandered quite frequently, not knowing which happenings to focus on. During those moments, the director drops on us a little more... you guess it... symbolism.

Nonetheless, the fancy visuals, the good photography and the powerful images are truly remarkable, conforming the main reason for watching this film: the lovely mini-world in which the story takes place and the way it is shown, resorting to violence if necessary. The hook scenes would be out of place in any other movie, but they fit here. Are they gruesome? Not as half as people might have told you. It's nothing you have to turn away your head from the screen.

To me, it looks solid, but I have the feeling it could have been much more too.

RATING: 6.8

I have not seen many remarkable motion pictures in the last few years. I may not be exposed to enough new and original creations, since Panama is not the best city to go to the cinema, monopolized by American mainstream productions. Through a fan of Asian cinema, I have lately watched a few films from Japan, China and South Korea that have really impressed me. On top of the list I place South Korean Ki-duk Kim's beautiful tale "Seom", a metaphor of an erotic obsession and gender submission, which in a way reminded me of Nagisa Oshima's "Aï no corrida". But while Oshima opted for a naturalistic representation of sex to narrate a true story, Kim's parable is frequently approached from a distance, with his characters' physicality and motivations subtly emerging from their actions and their placing in the beautiful fishing resort where all the story takes place. When Kim does get closer... well, you better be on guard, although the sadistic elements of the story make it more fascinating. "The Isle"'s last images are among the most striking (and unexpected) I've seen in decades. Highly recommended.

Kim Ki-Duk has his own distinct style of storytelling. His focus is more on the internal conflicts between the various characters/ elements presented to us. Often told through tranquil imagery and very minimal dialogue, Kim Ki-Duk lets the screen talk for itself.

The Isle narrates the developing relationship between a mute woman who runs a fishing resort and a murderer on the run from the law. The fishing resort always seems to attract the worst (or carnal) or men, one of them being the protagonist. He is no different from the rest in terms of how he behaves at his worst, but what sets him apart is a thick aura of self hate and self-realized emptiness; something the girls immediately recognizes and connects with.

The contrast between the serenity of the setting and the chaotic nature of the humans in it is the most fascinating. It makes us wonder that maybe the simplicity of the environment just puts the emphasis more on the people; whose behavior are no different than usual... like how a black spot of ink is more prominent on a white piece of paper.

But apart from the setup, I feel the execution felt draggy and dull the more it went on for, and this is probably my biggest complaint of the film... that halfway through, you feel like you've seen what you were expected to and that there was nothing new to keep your attention at grasp. The characters suffer from a lack of individuality that makes it difficult for us to want to see them through.

Overall, based on what I have seen from Kim Ki-Duk, this movie is a little towards the weaker end, but nonetheless a work of passion.

Well, first of all I want to point out, that I don't have any problem with portraits of graphic violence in movies whatsoever, as far as it's somehow justified by the plot, delivers at least some sort of irony or -which is far better - serves a reasonable purpose. A good example for the latter is Pasolini's "Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma", one of the most disturbing and violent films ever made. But it all makes sense in this case, since Pasolini created an intellectual statement against fascism (etc.) that intentionally generates here and there a certain impact on the viewer. The sometimes extreme and almost unwatchable sequences suit the equally extreme subject and are therefore justified

It's all completely different with "Seom", which fails in adding any intellectual value to the gross images. The movie is either tedious or disgusting, with some rare sequences of good acting and a generally well-done photography. The story: A young woman lives nearby a lake and manages some raft-like constructions with little cabins on them, mainly used by anglers. She provides food and other stuff and offers love services from time to time. Suddenly the male lead arrives, fatally attracts her and things go their way, fish-hooks within people and plenty scenes of real animals being tortured or killed included.

The movie is completely image-driven and tries to come across as arty-farty and philosophical, but it didn't work for me.

Rating: 3/10