Samaria (2004)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Ki-duk Kim

Writer:

Ki-duk Kim (writer)

Release Date:

5 March 2004 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Jae-Young is an amateur prostitute who sleeps with men while her best friend Yeo-Jin "manages" her, fixing dates...

Plot Keywords:

Police Officer | Father | Prostitute | Teenage Sex | Father Daughter Relationship

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Yeo-reum Han	...	Jae-yeong (as Min-jeong Seo)
Ji-min Kwak	...	Yeo-jin
Eol Lee	...	Yeong-ki
Kwon Hyun-Min	...	Salesman
Oh Young	...	Musician
Gyun-Ho Im	...	Tidily Guy
Lee Jong-Gil	...	Happy Guy
Shin Taek-Ki	...	Suicide
Jung-gi Park	...	Murder Victim
Gul-seon Kim	...	Second Salesman
Seung-won Seo	...	Man in his 30s
Yoo Jae-Ik	...	Pedestrian
In-gi Jung	...	Ki-Su
Jin-bae Jeon	...	Policeman #1
Yook Sae-Jin	...	Policeman #2

Also Known As:

Samaritan Girl (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sexual content.

Runtime:

Germany:95 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Spain:18 | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:M18 | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 | Mexico:B15 | South Korea:18 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:R | Germany:16 | Japan:R-15 | Sweden:15

Company:

Kim Ki-Duk Film

Goofs:

Continuity: When the car is stuck on the down-hill dirt road, the angle of the front wheels changes between shots.

Ki-Duk is getting very close to becoming my favorite director

This is my fourth film by Ki-Duk Kim (after Spring, Summer... / The Isle / 3-Iron), and he scores one minus (The Isle, despite stunning cinematography), one very good (Spring), and two absolutely magnificent. Despite the fact that I liked 3-Iron just a bit better because of the more straightforward story and consistent way of story telling, Samaria comes very close.

I'm not going to spoil things for you, but I'd just point out that this is yet another highly symbolic film, so much in fact, that this second (symbolic) level is probably more easily understood than the basic story. Not that it's complicated, it's just that story and meaning are not as closely interwoven as in 3-Iron, where the overlap between the two made possible an ambiguous reality that led to sublimation. Here, it takes a while for the two levels to touch.

The feeling following 3-Iron was that of reaching an asymptote - only the infinite was beyond. In Samaria, you feel like some serious stuff happened but what's done is done and the road lies open. We're at a starting point, which is not quite zero but feels like it. Well now, you can hardly call that a spoiler 'cause I hardly understand it myself. But you'll see what I mean after seeing it.

The story, which seems to start out as something different that what it turns out to be, must be one of the most poignant symbolic depictions of the point at which a parent has to let his/her kid go and realise he/she's not needed anymore - or not like before. Also, silence, without being as overwhelming as in 3-Iron, plays an important role. In 3-Iron, good stuff happened because of silence; here, a lot of not so good things happen because of it, but some good things can happen in spite of silence. The ending can be very sad or neutral or have the potential for hope, if you choose my story interpretation. But who am I?

What? Still reading this? - off you go to the video store. Chop chop!

Note: does anyone realise just how brilliant Kim Ki-Duk is when shooting indoor scenes?! Framing, camera movement, light - you name it - sheer perfection.