Pictures Gallery For The Isle

Seom (2000)

Also known as "The Isle"
Overall Score: 8 out of 10

Starring: Suh Jung, Kim Yoo-Suk, Park Sung-Hee, Cho Jae-Hyung, Jang Hang-Sun

Director: Kim Ki-Duk

Running Time: 89 minutes

US MPAA rating: Unrated
UK BBFC rating: 18
Drama

On a misty lake, a woman (Suh Jung) is caretaker for a fleet of houseboats, silently providing the men who hire them with fishing tackle and occasional sexual services. Drawn to a mysterious new arrival (Kim Yoo-Suk) who seems less interested in fishing or sex than in isolation itself, she interrupts his attempt to shoot himself, and soon a strange, wordless relationship develops between them. At first she spurns his sexual advances and arranges for a prostitute to visit him, but when, panicked by the arrival of police investigators at the lake, he attempts suicide again, the caretaker tends his horrific wounds and nurses him with sex - and both find themselves hooked on an intense passion which leads to jealousy, violence, mutilation and murder.

With films like 'The Crocodile', 'Wild Animals', 'Birdcage Inn', 'Bad Guy' and 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...and Spring', South Korean writer/director Kim Ki-Duk has earned himself a reputation for his uncompromising studies of marginalised characters and extreme experiences. This reputation can only be strengthened by 'The Isle', a film which, like Takashi Miike's

It's Got: Hook, line and sinker; stunning cinematography; nuanced, largely wordless performances; a mind-bending conclusion that will haunt you for days.

It Needs: To be left alone by the BBFC - but not to be seen by the squeamish.

Alternatives: 'The Eel', Audition

Summary: For those with a strong stomach, 'The Isle' is a real catch, so don't let this deceptively calm tale of self-imposed isolation, extreme emotions and fishing be the one that got away. Overall Score: 8 out of 10


Review Date: 23rd September 2004


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External Links

Seom at the IMDB

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