THE ISLE (섬)

Directed by: Kim Ki-duk
Country of origin: Korea
Starring: Seo Jeong, Kim Yu-seok


It seems that, over the past decade or so, Korea has been consistently churning out the best cinema out there. In terms of creative context, technical innovations, and genuine performances, neither Hollywood nor any other industry can seem to match the quality and sheer quantity of great South Korean films. One of the primary figures in their cinematic success has been director Kim Ki-duk, a director and arguable auteur-on-the-rise who has produced some of the most stylized films this side of Wong Kar Wai. One of his art-house favorites The Isle displays the director's ambitions perfectly. The Isle is a simple love story with a pair on strong performances and an intriguing setting. Something that has become Kim's trademark, the visuals are absolutely intoxicating, and will completely engross the viewer. Acting as the art director, Kim Ki-duk had complete control over the aesthetic of his film. The setting and its context, a small placid lake and a half dozen floating huts, are mysterious and gripping in their own subtle ways. Little dialogue and a camera that dwells on the faces of the actors adds to the reserved tone of the film. But at the same time, this reserved sense in The Isle is completely contradicted by numerous instances of explicit sexuality or violence.

While The Isle is a beautiful film, it has also become notorious for its certain anomalies, specifi-cally its non- chalant approach to sexuality and its numerous scenes of animal cruelty (all which, according to Kim, are real). While, in his defense, all of these things do serve a relevant purpose, Kim did take a lot of heat and criticism for these apparently abrupt portrayals. In the film, a frog is stunned and then skinned alive. Fish are shown drowning as the water in their tank winds up missing. A bird is thrown into the lake while still in its cage. In one of the more eerily disturbing scenes, a large fish is caught and filleted alive, then cut loose and left to swim away. Later on, the fish is caught again, still just barely alive. In his own defense, Kim stated, "In America you eat beef, pork, and kill all these animals. And the people who eat these animals are not concerned with their slaughter. Animals are part of this cycle of consumption. It looks more cruel onscreen, but I don't see the difference. And yes, there's a cultural difference, and maybe Americans will have a problem with it - but if they can just be more sensitive to what is acceptable in different countries I'd hope they wouldn't have too many issues with what's shown on-screen." Kim's argument is very admirable, and I fully support the fact that many times American's are very unwilling to accept elements of other cultures. But there's still a little part of me that thinks, in this case, Kim went a little too far. I wasn't offended by the cruelty, per-say, but more disturbed by the actions of the characters and the effect to which those actions interrupted the hypnotic sense of the film. Each of these scenes is in place to draw symbolism between the protagonists and the animals, and this is evident to some extent. But as a whole the cruelty was just downright alienating.

The sexuality and violence represented by the human characters of the film also caught me off guard several times. As men float alone or with a friend in the middle of the lake, isolated from the world in some sense, they could begin to long for the company of a women. Kim seems to love exploring this concept of isolation, and it becomes the base theme of many of his films. Well, in the case of The Isle, all of the patrons are either very lonely or very perverted, and prostitutes (indicatively from some nearby city) are constantly showing up at the lake. Here, Kim includes numerous lines of blatant sexual dialogue and a few explicit sex scenes. Needless to say, he definitely gets his point across. In this case, and especially near the end, it is evident that Kim is using nudity as a vehicle of symbolism (perhaps portraying Seo's lifeless, nude body as a parallel to that of the filleted fish). But the instances that really proved unwatchable for many audiences were those in which the protagonists attempted suicide with fish hooks. After one swallows a cluster of hooks and the other places the same hooks "below the belt", Kim creates a gory scene of pain as gag-inducing visuals flash across the screen. It was reported that, upon seeing these scenes, many people actually walked out or became sick at the Sundance Film Festival. They were indeed hard to watch, and had me cringing. Basically, once again, Kim gets his point across here, but perhaps in a fashion far too explicit. The Isle was definitely quite the experience, even after seeing it a second time. The story is gripping and alienating at the same time, and perhaps its this oxymoronic paradox that Kim Ki-duk is attempting to pull off. While not his best film, The Isle impresses with its deep visuals and intriguing setting, but it's definitely hard to swallow in a few places (... no pun intended!).  

***1/2 / *****