Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

work by Kim Ki-duk, but it wasn’t easy. Finally, I succeded in locating one movie - “For some time now I was trying to find any Samaria“.

Directed by: Ki-duk Kim
Genres: Drama
Cast: Ji-min Kwak, Min-jeong Seo, Eol Lee, Kwon Hyun-Min, Oh Young, Im Gyun-Ho, Lee Jong-Gil, Shin Taek-Ki, Jung-gi Park, Gul-seon Kim, Seung-won Seo, Yoo Jae-Ik, Jung In-Gi, Jin-bae Jeon, Yook Sae-Jin
IMDB raintg: 7.3
My rating: 9.0

It was worth the effort. The film is outstanding. It is a drama, but it is different from everything that I’ve seen so far. Usually, a drama movie would have one or two story lines that would slowly unfold leaving the audinece (read: me) in a very a sad mood by the end of the film. Most often some very well situations are used, such as love stories, wars, or in-family abuse of some sort.

“Samaria” is different. It has three main storylines which smoothy change each other during the course of the film. Additionally, it has many other small dramas. Basically, it shows that each person’s life consists of good and bad moments and that these are rather complex setups rather than simplistic Hollywood looks at real life. In “Samaria” every person goes through some personal drama.

Surprisingly, with all these dramatism and sadness in it, the film is rather easy to watch. It does not leave this bitter taste after it ends. But it provokes thinking. A lot of it.

The film’s technical aspects are also interesting and eye refreshing. Being a South Korean movie it lacks all the usual American stamps, while it does not bring in the slowlyness and hardness of the Asian philosophical movies. It feels very much European instead.

Camera angles, music, and scene setups are non-standard and make the movie yet more interesting to watch. The casting and acting are outstanding. The pace is good.

Resume: the movie is very very good. I am looking forward to watching more Kim Ki-duk’s work.