The film of the late South Korean director Kim Ki-duk consists of three parts: Wasumitra, Samaritan, Sonata. While the first two titles refer to mythological motifs, the latter focuses on the musical component and indicates a three-part division of the narrative. There is a lot of instrumental music in the film and it sounds quite appropriate, highlighting and amplifying dramatic moments of the plot. If it were necessary to describe not only this film by Kim Ki-duk, but all his work in general, I would use words like violence and stupidity. Indeed, in every film of the eminent Korean there is a tangible dramatic tear largely formed by these two components: traumatic conflict, violation of harmony and integrity of the world, which materializes through physical violence and is based / leads to irrational behavior of the characters. If ancient Eastern philosophy taught about the interaction of two polar energies - yin and yang, then in the work of Kim Ki-duk, the modern initially European idea of the interaction of fundamental energies as the driving forces of the human psyche - libido and mortido - is of greater importance. Sexual desire and desire for self-destruction. From this position, it is convenient to understand the motivation and behavior of the two heroines of the film - schoolgirls Cheyong and Yochin.
The first part is called Vasumitra. According to the story told in the film, Vasumitra is an ancient Indian prostitute who, in addition to rendering quite obvious services to the male body, rendered an incomparably great service to the male soul, introducing it with a post-coitus sermon to Buddhism. The pseudonym Vasumitra takes on one of the heroines of the film Cheyong, who in order to achieve the goal – a trip to Europe – organizes a small business for the provision of intimate services. The girls distribute roles in such a way that while Cheyong exhibits her body in the carnal pleasure market, her loyal and caring friend watches the situation nearby. Yochin, in case of a police raid, must warn Vasumitra in time so that she has time to withdraw from the scene of a moral and sexual crime. One day, as a result of an accidental oversight of Yochin, her friend is caught off guard by a police raid. Having the choice of surrendering to the law enforcement officers and thereby being subjected to public disgrace or jumping from the third floor to the bare asphalt, she prefers the latter option. This characteristic scene on the one hand allegorically shows how a repressive society pushes stumbled girls to the edge of the cliff, on the other hand reveals the power of mortido, that is, the desire for the death of Vasumitra. So, uncontrolled libido pushes Cheyeon "on the panel", and equally uncontrollable in a critical situation Mortido pushes her to jump off the panel.
The second part of the film, called Samaritan Woman, tells the story of Yochin, who drew peculiar conclusions from the tragedy of Cheyong. Considering himself guilty of the fall (in all senses) of his girlfriend, Yochin takes on an unusual austerity. She meets and copulates with all former clients of Cheyeon, and not only does not take money from them, but also returns the previously paid amount for sex with her friend. She is paying back a debt to her friend. Of course, from the point of view of common sense, it is very difficult to understand its “way of redemption”. However, if you recall how Yochin initially disdained her friend’s occupation and how she even disdained to communicate with her clients, it becomes obvious that she initially suppressed her libido. Now, after a severe psychotrauma associated with the fall of Vasumitra, Yochin’s previously repressed libido is released. But it also releases its mortido, which is also confirmed by such austerity. Isn’t it really a way of atonement for a friend, of releasing a previously suppressed sex drive, and of self-destruction? All desires merged into one stormy stream of violence directed against oneself (and what else is prostitution but self-violence against the flesh and spirit?!) and folly as the triumph of irrational impulses.
Now is the time to ask yourself why is Samaritan? What does this title of the film mean? In ancient times, the Jewish state was divided into two kingdoms: Israel and Judea. The capital of Israel was Samaria. The Jews and Samaritans, despite their neighborhood and common Jewish origins, treated each other with contempt and hostility, as evidenced in the Bible. The Jews believed the Samaritans to be wicked. What was the difference between them? Firstly, the Samaritans married foreigners and thus did not preserve the purity of Jewish blood; secondly, they worshipped pagan gods; thirdly, they worshiped the true God in the wrong place (not in Jerusalem, but in their own temples). Now, by analogy, the sin of Samaritan Yochin becomes clear. First of all, a Samaritan woman who is engaged in prostitution is guilty of the sin of adultery. Second, it serves the false gods of libido and mortidos. Third, it does not serve the true God. As all Christians know, God is the Father. And he is Love. Yochin does not honor his father and does not show him proper love. Her father does not directly interfere in Yochin’s affairs, although he knows everything she does and suffers greatly from her delusions. But he rightly punishes his daughter’s sinful clients. My father is gracious and patient. He could force his daughter to do what he thinks is right, but he wants the prodigal daughter to repent and come to him of her own free will.
The last scene of the film, in addition to the above religious and psychological meanings, opens a more prosaic version. Every father must teach his daughter how to move through life. Even if at first she will run on a bunch of unnecessary poles, stall in the mud, or even get into an accident. Sooner or later, every father must withdraw, and every daughter must take full responsibility for her life.
Coffee, cigarettes and whores. There's probably a factory somewhere where they're stamped. Somewhere near Broken Dream Boulevard.
Father and daughter. ..
Immersed in any cinematic creation of Kim Ki-duk, you get into the incredible passions of the most ordinary and ordinary people, often the middle class. At first glance, ordinary people from the crowd, but it is not. The characters of the South Korean director are very literary, they go through incredible upheavals, drama. Most often, the heroes of this director go to redemption.
There is something in all this Kim Ki-Duk from Dostoevsky. As if this person knows some secrets, knows well how our world works, reveals reality to us, no matter how bitter it may be. And Kim Ki-duk does it philosophically. I have been thinking about his films for a long time.
This is the kind of movie that we're looking at right now. Painting 'Samaria' scandalous and very delicate creation of Kim Ki-duk. He often introduces the subject of prostitution into his plots, and these heroines are always so unhappy. Their lives go through like a meat grinder, but who is to blame? People create their own destiny, and the director shows incredible human passions, pain and loneliness.
Young Yo-jin Rang lost her mother and now lives with her father. The girlfriend of the teenager Che-yeon is engaged in prostitution. They want to travel to Europe together, so they save money. Soon, Yo-jin herself begins to do this, as her father learns, and his reaction becomes extremely radical and shocking. . .
The story of a little bitch, no other name for it. Walking along a slippery path, the heroine no longer sees the way back, and a dark affair sucks her. She feels like it. She wants to fill the void in the shower. The saddest thing about her father is that she doesn’t care about him.
': There are no intellectual whores. Prostitution is a sign of weak intelligence. '
When you can’t do anything to help your child, see how he ruins his life irrevocably – it’s very scary. The father in this story is unbearably sorry. It is played so subtly and deeply by Lee Ol.
This film is about the fall and the concept of redemption, and this theme will always be relevant. Movies about prostitutes, like stories in real life, are always sad and full of pain and tears. The only exception is the Hollywood fairy tale ' Pretty Woman' with Julia Roberts, in which you want to believe. But the reality is different.
'Samaritan' - South Korean drama with elements of the 2004 thriller. Frank and such a painful movie from Kim Ki-duk turned out to be a strong and deep film, like a tangle of sharp needles, and pulling out gradually one by one, only then there will be emptiness.
39 I now know what prostitutes feel. Nothing.'
Director Kim Ki-duk once again turned to religious themes, building the plot on the theme of vice and redemption, and saturating his film with Christian parables told by the father of the main character.
Two schoolgirls engaged in prostitution are the embodiments of a vice, even if not yet mature and naive, like the smile with which one of them jumps out the window. The father, gripped by the rage of misunderstanding and unreality of what is happening, is also the personification of vice. Any sin burdens its bearer, and sooner or later forces to redeem itself, whether by death, prison, prosperity or health. This search for redemption is, I think, the main theme of the picture, and, at the same time, its main success. The relationship between father and daughter after the tragic events reborn, became more harmonious. And although words of remorse and regret never sounded, it seems that they have forgiven each other and reconciled themselves.
What the film did not like: the main musical theme, sounded several times (too vanilla) and the script of the first part of the film. It looks incredible, the behavior of the main characters, even if they are still schoolgirls, is too unpredictable, far-fetched. I would like to see a realistic canvas that tells about the eternal questions of existence. What was appropriate in spring, summer, autumn, winter ..., a film outside of time and a specific place, looks strange in the film about life in the Korean metropolis.
What I liked about the film: the work of the cameraman and director (especially scenes of violence and nature shooting).
Every movie you see is associated with something. A lone glass of bitter whiskey in the last minutes before the bar closes. Almost soaring in the air Cadillac, which cuts through the night silence somewhere in a California hill. Sexy, cute neighbor from the house opposite, which seems to forget to cover the curtains when darkness comes, and now begins to do this ... "Samaritian" (someone suggested a good alternative version - "Tyanka from Samara") Kim Ki-Duk will now remind us of the rough yellowed on any tree friends-leaves, aware of their imminent end and waiting for his arrival. The breath of autumn will appear, the leaves will fall and, covering the ground with a yellow blanket, will give wonderful beauty to the eyes. It's a pity they won't be able to climb up any more...
Autumn is our oasis in search of cold shelter during the endless summer. What can not be said about the harsh father of a very young girl Yo Jin, who for the sake of her best friend took the rather unexpected step of meeting with each client of their special services, sleeping with them and returning their money. Three steps. If you remember “Mr. Nobody” there was a memorable moment when everything reached one final point, after which time went backwards, before the eyes of the viewer began to sweep the footage previously viewed. A cute Korean woman seems to have decided to take control of time by repeating her friend’s actions backwards. To do what would not work for fallen leaves - to return to your favorite branches. A reflection that appeared in the water, which the friends washed after the “case”.
Philosophy, damn it. In fact, understandable and typical Asian cinema with a minimum of dialogue and with a maximum of freedom-demanding emotions that are locked in silent heroes. And this time without shocking elements in the form of naturalistic from all angles of bloody scenes and bed cases with branded sexual moaning. A seemingly life story with the so-called orderly chaos, when in the heart of the bedlam, but in the head of van Damme. The Samaritan decided to give a moment of love and an hour of happiness to successful men, but this seemed to her own father to be questionable and reckless behavior. The stone will be thrown immediately. Not alone. On the one hand, what happens does not destroy anything, does no harm to anyone. On the other hand, for now...
The closest person didn't know. The Father is no longer there, but the Angel of Death. Yes, shrug off the call “the child will grow up and understand” will not work. Here we have to go to extreme measures. It is not easy to live in real life, in which he is aware of his own self. His soul can be tormented as much as you like. Resentment, evil, pain, of course, do not help the body to live a long quiet life. They only dream of peace. Do not forget that a parent and a child can be both native people and completely strangers to each other. It is terrible to have life after certain events. Korean kinzo from Kim Ki-duk is not for easy evening viewing, although it is for whom. The musical component can be tuned.
The professional skill of any director is judged by his early works, their character and style. At one time, Kim Ki-duk more than adequately coped with this task, having managed to hook the international audience with his extraordinary and in many ways shocking presentation of material. Less than ten years later, the director decides to change the philosophy of his work, making it more restrained and introspective, starting with the film “Spring, summer, autumn, winter ... and again spring” and continuing with “Samaritskaya”. Catching the direct dependence of the existential vacuum of modern society on the degree of perfection of its sin apparatus, the South Korean master changed the direction of the vector of human development towards spiritual self-purification and enlightenment, which was not or was clearly lacking in his previous works.
The Samaritan Woman is a quite prosaic, everyday work, on the pages of which, if desired, you can find signs of many famous legends, not only of a sacred kind. Most of all, the story is close to the “Divine Comedy” of the great medieval poet Dante Alighieri, who, like all the heroes of Kim Ki-duk and him, himself went through severe life trials. The alienated Seoul landscapes with all the tastelessness of their love motels, secluded public parks, in which stone sculptures with human features keep silence seem to replace real people, the soulless and impersonal space of Internet cafes, the cynical citizens who are always in a hurry on their business, it is quite appropriate to proclaim hellish symbols. Somewhere here lived two young and beautiful girls who were friends with each other and dreamed of leaving for Europe. Jae Yong voluntarily exploited her body, Yo Jin did the less intricate part of the work. Everything turned out relatively well until a tragic accident (or pattern?) intervened in their lives, ridding one of all earthly passions, and leading the other to the thought of redemption.
So begins the most defining part of the “walking through the torments” of Kiduk heroes. The terrible, attractive and at the same time repulsive theme of the ancient female profession, so familiar to the Korean, with each subsequent film moves to a higher level, reborn for new filters of perception. The Bible is given in small doses because real life is more meaningful. Kim Ki-duk avoids an open father-daughter explanation, leaving them almost silent towards each other. A guilty father goes to great lengths to hide his grief inside. There are no perverts or rough pimps hurting his daughter. But there are those who do not hesitate to use the intimate services of a minor. Cruelty is necessary, but its purpose is not strength, but the atonement of guilt - your own and not only. The notorious first stone turns out to be a real weapon in the hands of an angry father, breaking the windows of the car of a married businessman whose daughter is older than Yo Jin.
As you get closer to the finale, you feel a certain confusion of the director, obviously not yet fully adapted to his new style, so you should not accuse him of any understatement or subjective idealization of what is happening. Although the ending of this film does not even remotely resemble the expected parade, most importantly, Kim Ki-duk managed to breathe into his film a refreshing and graceful sense of hope for renewal for the better, the source of which lies in the hearts of people. Even the most persistent sinner can find hope of salvation if he wants to. All you have to do is make an effort, as only Yo Jin, who sat at the lamb, stubbornly navigating the flooded gravel road after the car that takes her father away. May God grant such a strong girl to overcome this and other trials that will meet her on the way to her paradise.
Two classmates decided to leave for Europe after graduation. Having no wealthy parents, they decided to save up for tickets themselves. Girls found wealthy men online and offered them sex. Jae Yong was a prostitute and she even liked it, and Yo Jin was engaged in casting clients, financial matters and stood on the lookout, warning about the approach of the police. One day she did not have time to do it and Jae Yong had to jump out of the window, receiving a fall head injury incompatible with life. This terrible tragedy became a turning point in the fate of Yo Jin.
Kim Ki-duk made a deeply dramatic film that asks questions that have no definite answers. This movie is not just about child prostitution. One of the questions is why a girl from a prosperous family, in which her mother died, and her father, working as a policeman, gives all his free time to her daughter, literally idolizes her, chose such a dirty path? Is the father's revenge right when he sees his daughter with another client and kills him and then several others? After all, it was a conscious choice of his daughter, albeit a minor. And such difficult questions filled the whole film. The final scene is very symbolic, where Yo Jin, having barely learned the basics of driving, is stuck in the car in the mud, completely alone in the middle of a broken track. She also fell into the dirt on the road of life. Sooner or later the car will get out of the hole, but can the girl? Here's another unanswered question. But there is hope, for her subconscious mind is filled with guilt, as described in a dream in which her father kills her with his hands and burys her near the highway. Awareness of guilt is the first step towards correction.
Another wonderful philosophical parable from the brilliant director Kim Ki-duk.
Two high school friends, Yo-jin and Jae-yeon, come up with a rather extravagant way to make money for a trip to Europe. While the first one is looking for customers and is on the hustler, the second serves lovers in the rooms of a cheap motel. The priestess of love about this division of labor is not complex: she believes that everything is fair, because with another client she even more enters into the taste. But the “pimp” altruism of the girlfriend does not console much: every time she experiences growing remorse.
However, things are moving, and the light planned at the end of the tunnel begins to slowly shine: for the first ticket, the necessary amount has already been accumulated. And then the cops come to the room to the priestess of love. Being an independent girl, Jae-yeon, without thinking twice, flies from the third floor window to the pavement. Yo-jin drags her to the hospital, hoping to save her best friend. Moreover, she is looking for the very man with whom the partner managed to fall in love. Tom does not need a dying prostitute for nothing, but he still agrees to look at her after the virgin Yo-jin offers herself as payment.
In general, we have a perversive extreme of “pure water”, with which girls invariably wash for a couple after each working day. The consequences of such adolescent negligence, by definition, must be appalling and instructive. That's all Ki-Duk needs. After Jae-yeon, aka Vasimitra (Buddhist sinner), gives the soul to Buddha, Yo-jin, aka Samaritan (Christian sinner), comes up with a ritual of repentance: decides to sleep with all the served “detophiles” and return money to everyone.
But the process of redemption drags on. Just enough to be noticed by Yo-jin's father. As a result, the Pope of the most honest rules begins to hunt for lovers of young flesh, with persistent fury smearing the brains of lustful males on the tiled walls of public toilets.
Samaritan Woman is a controversial and clearly transitional film. The author does not try to hide what is at the crossroads between the inexhaustible passion for bloody exercises (which few people know how to shoot better than him, and which made his name) and the emerging craving for rhetorical allegories. Kim Ki-duk was relatively quickly ill with a childhood illness of coolness, going through multiple stages of sophisticated violence. And now his second film in a row tries to follow the letter of classical novels of upbringing and the spirit of edifying parables.
Like "Spring, Summer, Autumn..." Samaria may seem to the uninitiated message of a sophisticated Eastern sage professing the luminous sadness of the lofty poetry of eternal truths. Avoiding the temptation of direct moralizing, Kim Ki-duk connects his second figurative resource: contrasts the evils of urban life with the existential beauty of nature. In the finale, the father and daughter go to visit the mother’s grave: the sin of premature fleshly knowledge is designed to heal the belated spiritual initiation. The karmic cleansing session is crowned with a simple image of the last fatherly instruction.
The picturesque mountain range... The peaceful colors of autumn... Here, far from a despicable civilization, a father trusts his daughter with the steering wheel of his car for the first time. And while she makes the first laps on the markup left by Dad, he quietly drives away in a specially called car. Thus, the father’s upbringing lessons, which were “burdened” at the time, are transformed for her daughter into a simple and intelligible survival exam.
Yo Jin and Jae Yong are best friends. They have a dream to save money and go to Europe. This dream is the starting point of everything that will happen to them. They have no idea how this will end.
For me, this is a story about the fact that for all the actions and decisions that we make in life, someone will be responsible. And they are most often responsible for our close people. They are to the pain in the heart and to the madness of experiencing everything that happens in our lives. Ye Jin paid for her actions after Jae Yong's death. In turn, without thinking about what these same actions could turn out for her ... and for her father. Whose experiences touched me the most.
People need to think about their own lives. You need to watch and reflect on your actions.
The film is mysterious and dramatic, with a unique plot, with touching and naive moments, which are complemented by the stunning melody of Ji-woong Park - Girl's Theme.
10 out of 10