Lack of good storyline.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The earlier Kim Ki-Duk films always had one common theme running through them: Romance Through Sadism. Both his debut film "Crocodile" and even "Bad Guy", The Isle's successor, had the theme of romance mixing with sadism. At times it's physical violence, and other times it's about the sexual sadism. And The Isle is no different among his earlier films, in the sense of the way he conveyed the overall tone of the film. While most of his earlier films did have this similar theme, I have to say that "The Isle" is his most poetic film. While still delivering the romanticism through sadism, the film takes almost an avant-garde route. The film still sticks to the narrative storytelling; Kim Ki-Duk, however, does not take the route of full on Luis Bunuel or David Lynch's "Eraserhead" or "Inland Empire". The closest Lynch film, if anything, I'd compare this to is "Mulholland Drive". The violence, as expected from a Kim Ki-Duk film, is unprecedentedly abhorrent. Fish hooks are used throughout the film by the main couple in one of the most sadistic way you can witness on the silver screen. But it definitely isn't done in the over-the-top and gratuitous way, but in an ironically beautiful and poetic sense. Imagine swallowing a handful of fish hooks, in an attempt to end your life. Or a woman inserting a handful of fish hooks up her vagina and yanks them out in order to get your lover back. That is the type of sadism "The Isle" presents. However, do not think of it as your average controversial film, for the sake of the shock values. There's more to this film than the "romantic sadism".The cinematography, especially the establishing shots of the resort, is gorgeously shot. And the composer definitely knew how to depict isolation and loneliness, as every single scenes with the film score perfectly fit the emotions the main characters were showing. The acting and the directing were quite Italian Neorealism(but of course that's Kim Ki-Duk's style). Isolation, loneliness, sexual sadism, romanticism, and fish hooks. These are what represent "The Isle". And the film definitely is the most poetic among his earlier filmography, though what film has Kim Ki-Duk made that didn't contain poetic elements in it?10/10

The Isle is one of the few movies I've seen in a long time where silence is used to its full extent. It's a movie of very little music, very few lines of dialogue and even the ambient sound is that hollow echo of a lake where everything is muted and misty. And yet it works so well for the purposes of this particular story.Hee-jin (Jung Suh) is a mute young woman who runs and maintains a removed lake fishing resort where a fleet of floating cabins are rented for those wanting peace and quiet. Most of her usual customers are middle-aged men who are mostly interested in fishing, drinking and occasionally her body. Our story starts when a disquieted man (Yoosuk Kim) arrives at her resort, looking to hide from the world.The Isle is a movie of reflection. It's that lazy hour sitting on the porch, drinking coffee, staring at nothing, thinking nothing in particular. And thus, when things start to build up, it takes you a moment to shake off the cobwebs, allowing the movie to deliver some real gut punches. At its heart of hearts it's a thriller, but honestly I have rarely been as nauseated or scared by a horror movie than I was by this one.The Isle is a fantastic movie for someone looking for a quiet thriller that takes its time and trusts itself enough to allow for the suspense to build as slowly as it needs to build. The pacing is just perfect, the story ends just when it needs to and as a whole it's an experience. Highly recommended.

"Seom" is definitely not a film for everybody but surely is a film that will not leave anyone untouched. It's calm and cruel at the same time. The movie is mostly known for its disturbing scenes: you can see, among the others, fishing hooks stuck into a man's throat or in a woman's vagina, or a fish partially eaten alive, but you can also admire some of the most poetic images ever filmed. The film is photographed in a beautiful way (Kim Ki-duk was a painter before being a director), some shots of the lake are stunning and anticipate the ones of "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring". The plot is about an apparently mute girl who works in a fishing resorts, she rents floating houses to fishermen, sell food and provides prostitutes for them, occasionally she sells her body too. A man arrives at the resort, he is a fugitive running from police. A strange bond starts between the man and the girl. After some suicide attempts and some murders the couple will leave the resort on a floating cabin. The narration is slow, but are the images and symbolism to be eloquent The film is superbly acted, especially by Jung Suh who carries on his role credibly without speaking a word. "Seom" is the movie that made me know Kim Ki-duk and I consider it a masterpiece.

There isn't much I feel I can say about this movie. It is beautiful, yet boring; metaphoric, yet obvious; brutal, yet gentle. It combines many of the classic story lines in a weird and outworldy way.Basically, it is a movie about love, but the people involved are introverted tortured individuals. I believe that the title points to the way each character in the movie is an island of its own, a metaphor that is laid out in the physical world as rental floating cabins on a lake, and the girl that services this world is some sort of very dark mermaid.However, I feel that it goes too arty for my tastes. Between the occasional feelings of nausea, horror, pity and anxiety, there are long periods of boredom. I can hardly identify with most of the characters, as they belong to an underground world that I am not part of.Bottom line: a movie for Asian fans, for Kim Ki Duk fans, for movie art fans.