Love blooms amid desert of frustration in 'Oasis'
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By John Scott Marchant
History is littered with great affairs of the heart: Marc Antony and Cleopatra, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, Bogie and Bacall, Puffy and J-Lo (much to Ben's chagrin). The list goes on and on. Yet you don't need to be a card-carrying member of the rich and famous to enjoy a romance of epic proportions.
Lee Chang-dong, accomplished film director and Korea's minister of culture and tourism, masterfully demon-strates that love can bloom even in the most barren desert of frustration in his hard-hitting film "Oasis" (2002).
Not one to shy away from tackling the tough issues in Korea society, Lee takes us on a journey that follows the life of Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu), a thrice-convicted criminal who is completely unequipped to deal with the world into which he has been born.
A simple soul who acts on impulse, Jong-du rarely thinks of the future and is incapable of taking responsibility for his actions. After being released from prison for killing a man in a hit-and- run accident, Jong-du attempts to purge his guilty conscience by visiting the dead man's family. It's during this unwelcome house call that he meets Gong-ju (Moon So-ri) - the daughter of the man he killed, who has cerebral palsy and whose brother has locked her away in a squalid apartment.
Fascinated by Gong-ju's contorted facial expressions and awkward physical movements, Jong-du is drawn like a moth to the flame, unable to resist returning for another visit. Given the circumstances, the encounter proceeds smoothly enough until disaster strikes and Jong-du, in one of his moments of madness, succumbs to carnal desire and attempts to rape Gong-ju.
This encounter fills him with self-loathing and he is resigned to never seeing her again until one night, much to his surprise, she calls him using his brother's business card, which he left behind. Despite this inauspicious beginning and the differences in their personalities, the couple defy the odds and develop a clandestine relationship that goes a long way toward satisfying their respective emotional needs.
"Oasis" is an intelligent film that subtly critiques a materialistic and self-serving society only too eager to brush misfits aside. While the entire cast turns in excellent performances (Sol and Moon are particularly brilliant in their roles), director and sometime actor Ryoo Seung-wan's ("Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance") cameo as Jong-du's younger brother is also praiseworthy.
As a winner of five awards at the 2002 Venice International Film Festival, including Best Director for Lee, "Oasis" is a world-class offering that should be on the top of everyone's must-see Korean movie list.
History is littered with great affairs of the heart: Marc Antony and Cleopatra, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, Bogie and Bacall, Puffy and J-Lo (much to Ben's chagrin). The list goes on and on. Yet you don't need to be a card-carrying member of the rich and famous to enjoy a romance of epic proportions.
Lee Chang-dong, accomplished film director and Korea's minister of culture and tourism, masterfully demon-strates that love can bloom even in the most barren desert of frustration in his hard-hitting film "Oasis" (2002).
Not one to shy away from tackling the tough issues in Korea society, Lee takes us on a journey that follows the life of Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu), a thrice-convicted criminal who is completely unequipped to deal with the world into which he has been born.
A simple soul who acts on impulse, Jong-du rarely thinks of the future and is incapable of taking responsibility for his actions. After being released from prison for killing a man in a hit-and- run accident, Jong-du attempts to purge his guilty conscience by visiting the dead man's family. It's during this unwelcome house call that he meets Gong-ju (Moon So-ri) - the daughter of the man he killed, who has cerebral palsy and whose brother has locked her away in a squalid apartment.
Fascinated by Gong-ju's contorted facial expressions and awkward physical movements, Jong-du is drawn like a moth to the flame, unable to resist returning for another visit. Given the circumstances, the encounter proceeds smoothly enough until disaster strikes and Jong-du, in one of his moments of madness, succumbs to carnal desire and attempts to rape Gong-ju.
This encounter fills him with self-loathing and he is resigned to never seeing her again until one night, much to his surprise, she calls him using his brother's business card, which he left behind. Despite this inauspicious beginning and the differences in their personalities, the couple defy the odds and develop a clandestine relationship that goes a long way toward satisfying their respective emotional needs.
"Oasis" is an intelligent film that subtly critiques a materialistic and self-serving society only too eager to brush misfits aside. While the entire cast turns in excellent performances (Sol and Moon are particularly brilliant in their roles), director and sometime actor Ryoo Seung-wan's ("Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance") cameo as Jong-du's younger brother is also praiseworthy.
As a winner of five awards at the 2002 Venice International Film Festival, including Best Director for Lee, "Oasis" is a world-class offering that should be on the top of everyone's must-see Korean movie list.
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