Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Experiencing Kim Ki-Duk, August 29, 2005
MOVIE: 5/5
I won't bother saying what the movie is about as you can read the synopsis provided by the editor above.Kim Ki-Duk as a film maker has a real talent in effortlessly establishing his characters and relationships which are vital in moving his movies forward. The development he creates in a single scene without dialogue, other directors fail to do within entire movies. In essence, he is efficient because he understands human behaviour and the power of subtlety. Others may find the lack of onscreen activity boring but I can't help feel fascinated and completely drawn in with each passing minute of this movie. This is not a movie for everyone and it is by no means a happy one. It is at times sad, depressing, and revolting. But it is hard not to come away with some emotional investment with either of the main characters. At the core, I believe the same thing is driving both main characters (the father and daughter), that being nobility, but here we see how being noble leads to suffering. I have only seen one other Kim Ki-Duk movie (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring) but both have left an everlasting impression. If you are a fan of Kim Ki-Duk or Korean cinema, I highly recommend this. DVD: 2/5
There is no reason why this movie should look the way it does given how recent it is. It's not the worse, but certainly far from perfect. The video transfer is inconsistent and it looks like it came from a less than perfect print. At the start, I couldn't help but feel a little distracted by all the nicks in the print. I eventually got use to it and the transfer does improve in the middle section of the movie. I found the transfer to be quite soft throughout. And towards the end, there is a barely noticable vertical band in many scenes. Like I said, its barely noticeable but distracting somewhat.
The Dolby Digital/DTS mixes are pretty much identical. It is a front heavy mix which is appropriate for the subject matter. The surrounds do chime in but are reserved primarily for ambient sounds. There are no worthwhile extras which is unfortunate. OVERALL:4/5
Despite a less than stellar DVD, I'm still giving this release a 4/5 because the movie more than makes up for its technical shortcoming's as a DVD.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Misguided and Adult Exploited Youth in Poignant Film..., April 14, 2005
Two high school girls, Jae-Young and Yeo-Jin, contact older men via the internet in order for Jae-Young to sell herself. Yeo-Jin solicits the clients and manages the income as they plan to make a trip to Europe. However, everything is lost when Jae-Young jumps form a window in order to avoid an arrest. Confused and aimless Yeo-Jin begins to seek closure to the death of her friend and gets the idea to contact and return the money to all of Jae-Young previous clients. When Yeo-Jin meets with one of the clients her secret is uncovered as her father, a police detective, who is investigating a murder of a young girl in the adjacent hotel complex.
Samaritan Girl is a bizarre coming of age film that is split into three acts: Vasumitra, Samaria, and Sonata. Vasumitra, portrays the two girl's affectionate relationship and the ambiguous nature of their partnership. This act is a warm and sensitive journey into the girl's friendship, which is illustriously displayed with warm colors and intriguing mise-en-scene. The second act, Samaria, exposes the loss and confusion that Yeo-Jin experiences after Jae-Young's death. In addition, it displays the father's misery as he discovers his daughter's dark secret. The final act, Sonata, opens the door between the father and his daughter as they find a way to conclude the suffering that both of them are experiencing.
Samaritan Girl's theme is of a disturbing nature as it presents teen prostitution, which has upset lots of viewers. Ki-duk Kim merely reveals the truth as he opens a can of worms for the audience that is based on tragic news and the facts of South Korea. Despite the unpleasant nature of the film, Kim goes on and tells the story of misguided youth and the adults that exploit them with tactfulness and consideration for the audience. The film is shot with detailed artistic quality, which brings deeper thoughts into the light. This reveals Ki-duk Kim's background in both philosophy and art. Kim's vision reflects on his Catholic upbringing as this is a tale that questions morals, guilt, and sin as the film brings the audience through a great cinematic journey.
Sidenote: Original Title by Ki-duk Kim is Samaria, check www.imdb.com.
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and Thought Provoking, May 17, 2005
"Samaritan Girls" is a very interesting and thought provoking film. Two young high school girls have a prostitution business going on. One girl Jae-Young, has the sex with the clients while Yeo-Jin acts a pimp of sorts. Jae-Young parents are not shown in the film. Yeo-Jin's father is a police detective. Jae-Young is full of life, full of smiles and actually enjoys having sex with the clients. She makes a point to get to know them better despite objections from Yeo-Jin who wants her to keep things sex only.
Although this film is from the Asia Extreme collection, it is rather tame, no graphic sex or nudity, but some violence. Jae-Young and Yeo-Jin share intimate talks in a bath house while they bath each other in the nude. At one point in the film I thought that Yeo-Jin was interested in Jae-Young, but as the film progressed I felt that perhaps Yeo-Jin was envious of Jae-Youngs beauty and happy-go-lucky exterior. Jae-Young dies in a very strange accident. The description from the film company makes it appear she dies in a police raid when actually it is her own stupidty that leads to her death. Even near death, she is still smiling. After her death, Yeo-Jin goes on a mission to pay back the men who have had sex with Jae-Young. This didn't make any sense to me. Why did she want to give them the money back? The money was secondary. Yeo-Jin wanted to become Jae-Young. Yeo-Jin who previously didn't smile or seem overtly feminine took on a whole new appearance as she had sex with the men she once felt were filthy. Things really heat up when her police detective father discovers what she is doing and sets out on a mission to make his daugthers suiters pay for having sex with young girls, namely his daughter. The film was good but got slow toward the end. Watching Yeo-Jin's father follow her from location to location and fail to confront her grew tiring. I also didn't appreciate the subtitles constantly reminding me that the film was owned by Tartan or Asia Extreme, whatever it kept saying. I am aware that this film was bootlegged in the past but people who legally purchase the film need not be reminded of the films owner while watching the flick. The ending of the film was rather "open," leaving the viewer to conclude on their own what happens.
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