Oasis

Lee Chang Dong's Oasis softly caresses the audience's heart with the smooth touch of two Seoul's lost souls, desiring for an unknown sense of humanity which they never seem to have found, until now. This is a movie of all and nothing, about prejudice, judgement, guilt, paradoxically filled with a void that shapes the characters of the movie. Hong Jong Du is a former detainee who spent a conviction for murder while driving drunk, to ultimately protect his brother who actually committed the crime, and his family . When he comes back to greet the victim's family after his release, he meets Gong-Ju, the victim's daughter, who is also paralytic. The two of them will initiate a relationship which will eventually result in a series of adverse joints of destiny which will drive them apart. The striking sensitivity and delicateness of the theme is mixed with an intimate sense of deep understanding of two souls who saw neglected the best from their life. They seem to find in each other a reason to grasp the meaning of a lifeless existence, which importance we may seem to forget on a daily basis. The surrounding prejudice and judgement towards whom the society seems to hipocritically ignore may splendidly turn into one the most impactful, impressively touching story of redemption, love and incomprehension that you will see on screen.

Beautiful and haunting film.

Absolutely not. This man rapes this disabled woman in her home, and the story proceeds with them falling in love afterwards. I could not and refuse to continue watching after that. Heinous, unnecessary, and traumatizing. I get they're trying to show this love story of two marginalized people (I don't believe the male lead to be marginalized whatsoever, as a convicted rapist and murderer), but honestly, a rape as a plot point for romance, much less any kind of narrative, is absolutely vile.

This is daring stuff. Deeply touching. I was utterly stunned.

(Wrong description up above) Oasis is unrelenting, unapologetic, and uncomfortable. It tells the off kilter romance between a socially shy ex-con and a woman with cerebral palsy. This sounds like a romance that cannot exist, but it does. It well directed and written with a steady heart, so the movie is endearing and never schmaltzy. It ends exactly how you'd imagine, with society and the families not being able to understand. Some enjoy the optimistic ending, but I did not see any dialogue between the families to show how they misconstrued everything. Oasis is an eye opening critique on how society views ex-cons and the physically disabled, wrapped around a sweet Romeo and Juliet like romance, and its solid.

This is an incredible film. A thoroughly unlikeable, social misfit falls into a relationship with a girl suffering from extreme cerebral palsy. The film takes it's time building just how unsympathetic the main character is, including starting the relationship with what one could only call a sexual assault, before taking you many places you do not expect to go. It manages to blend stark realism with some amazing and touching fantasy sequences. In the end, it's a testament to the power of feeling accepted by at least one person. Startling and brave.

Can a movie be patient, subtle and graceful, while ALSO being a roller coaster of emotions? Yep. This is proof. Oasis, the story of a troubled young man and his budding relationship with a young girl with cerebral palsy, eventually goes where you want it to, but not before dragging you through the muck. With elements of The Fall and Benny & Joon, Oasis is melancholic, stylish, and unnervingly romantic world cinema.

Maybe the strangest love story I've ever seen, between a mentally challenged man and a severely disabled woman. For the first half of the movie, I had no idea if the actress was really disabled or not. This is Korean cinema at its most, uh, unique.

As the film moves from being surreal to being...unreal, my enthusiasm, I gotta admit, flagged a little bit during the second half of the film. Like Secret Sunshine and Poetry, there is a strong sense of comic that balances out rather heavy, tragic premises. So the last sequence was supposed to be terribly, dramatically tragic because the two lead characters were screaming but cannot reach each other. Yet, I could not keep myself from laughing when she resorted to cheesy, dancey K-Pop songs to express herself, while he was sitting on a tree, cutting the branches like a naughty child. Then, maybe, the reason why I prefer Poetry was because its ending was decidedly sad.

what did i just see?