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Customer Reviews
The Isle is basically a love story albeit a dark twisted gruesome love story. Kim Ki-Duk has a unique way of letting his characters convey their feelings for each other. Both characters find it hard to express their love for each other by conventional methods, which isn't helped by the fact that one of them is mute. So the only way they can express themselves is through action and violence, which at times can be hard to look at. I'm not going to lie to you I did want turn away at certain parts and I've sat through some pretty gruesome movies. Let's just say that there is a reason for a fishing hook being on the front cover of the box. Both actors do an excellent job playing their characters, especially Seo Jeung who plays Hee-jin since she had to portray the character without saying a single word.
The DVD itself isn't the best that Tartan has released but it is still pretty good. It's filled with your usual trailers and behind the scene extras. The only disappointment I got was to learn that the BBFC cut a few minutes out of the film due to certain animal cruelty scenes.
I have always admired Kim Ki-Duk for his willingness to explore dark subject matters that other filmmakers tend to avoid and to do so in such a captivating way. The Isle manages to pull you in with its beautiful surroundings and then make you turn away in horror. The only criticism I have is that the film does seem to have a fairly slow pace which might put some people off. So overall if you are a fan of Kim Ki-Duk and Asia Extreme then The Isle is a perfect addition to your collection. If you like movies that are different and filled with controversy then I would also give this a try. Just remember this film is definitely not for everyone.
An extremely well-filmed movie, in typically beautiful oriental style with mist rolling over the lakes and deep blue hues, the film is let down by its sheer pointlessness.
In terms of the film's self-promotion as extreme perversion, whilst the viewing is certainly not mainstream, I wouldn't rate it as overly extreme. The self-harming incidents which are the main pieces of uncomfortable viewing are spread fairly far apart and between them the film can be a little slow. In fact, the 'worst' case of the woman's self-harming, towards the end of the film, is actually strangely comic in its execution.
More could have been done with the particularly interesting psychology of the woman. For instance her tendency to swim underwater at night and spy on her customers by sneaking up through the trapdoor in the huts' floors could have been pursued with great effect.
So in summary it was, for me, certainly a watchable film but neither as perversely offensive as it claims, nor does it hold a meaningful story. So despite its strong cinematography I'm giving it an average vote.
Though filled with images of sexual mutilation, excretion, and much-discussed animal violence (mainly to fish), "The Isle" is a far cry from an exploitation film; this is deeply felt, melancholy material, a harsh love story between two people beaten down by life and unable to express themselves except through pain.
The film also leavens the somber tone with a few nicely placed sick laughs, often at the expense of the characters' outrageous behavior, and director Ki-duk Kim displays an impeccable eye for simple, beautifully composed images. The floating single-room homes over foggy, rippling water are a marvelous, otherworldly visual conceit, though the feeling that the film itself might just float away is indeed fulfilled in the puzzling finale, which unfortunately goes about half a minute too long and closes with a non sequitor image that undoes much of the climax's power.
"The Isle (Seom)" a small blip in an otherwise immaculately constructed film that refuses to play by anyone's rules and stands as another proud example of horror filmmaking as a matter of tone rather than content.
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