BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Frank 'Nuar' S. Addressing a variety of themes such as underaged prostitution, grief and mourning, resulting in a series of bad decisions that are devoid of sanity, but full of emotion.Although prostitution is illegalized in Korea, it is still a national phenomenon. Many young women resort to sell their bodies to cover for tuition costs and the demands of an exceptionally materialistic society.Kim Ki-Duk cleverly explores the issue by adding a morality check, introducing religious motives from Buddhist and Christian beliefs in the dialogue of his characters. In doing so he leaves us to speculate about the intent of an already ambiguous ending scene.My only problems with this movie stem from its pacing, at times scenes were so drawn out that it lost my attention for a while. However it always got me back in the next scene.If you want to see a dark and unsettling drama, give this one a shot.

stensson For some reason Korean movies has a great "hip factor" nowadays and I have some difficulties seeing the point. Today you are not supposed to object to the violence, regardless of how brutal it is. Somebody has decided that this is nerdish and that "somebody" everyone has to obey.You've probably seen worse brutality than in "Samaria", but anyway it is the violence that makes the whole thing so difficult to understand. OK, a father is out on a vigilante tour after realizing his daughter is a prostitute, although she, for certain reasons, pay her customers and not the opposite. The father's feelings are anyway not understandable. You've got no keys to them. It's not enough showing him just sorry and humiliated.The reconciliation scene in the end is however beautiful and made in an uncommon way. But it doesn't make the film more understandable. This is done too hasty. Even Korean film might be just on an average level.

Atavisten Kim Ki Duk makes films that will not make him popular in his home country this time about the problem of high school prostitution, girls that prostitute themselves to get expensive clothes or trips abroad. Here we get the least accomplished of his movies that I have seen. Its still good and the theme is a very important one, but its not perfect as his other movies. With his tempo of production this is not surprising, its not easy to keep the quality at such a high level when you make three movies a year, all important ones.The actors here are not so good as I would expect, especially Jae-Youngs role was played immature. I got the expression she was a bit out of her mind all the time just like Stephen King thought of Jack Nicholson in 'The Shining'. Lee Eol on the other hand fit the father figure quite well and did a decent if not extraordinary job.Story is well developed, but could do better with a little more thought put into the ending. The finale, it seems, comes a bit pressured, its very difficult to end this movie and this was a easy way to do it. That is not to say it was bad at all. Were 'Bom, Yeorum ...' had its focus on buddhism, this is about Christianity. How and what it implies are a bit uncertain, but there are biblical references like the fathers actions are an eye for an eye and then it becomes about guilt. Jae-Young wants to be like the Indian prostitute that turned her clients into buddhists after she had finished with them. What happens to them after her friend the samaritan is finished with them on the other hand is not so sunny.

racecaraddict2400 Samaritan Girl is a really impressive film directed by Ki-Duk Kim. To end all the discrepancies about the title, the film has been illegally bootlegged as 'Samaria'. The real official title of this film in English is "Samaritan Girl". The film is coming out on official non-bootlegged DVD from Tartan's Asia Extreme...which I should add, have been putting out some awesome Asian films on DVD, not to mention they are the ones responsible for getting 'Oldboy' in the theater.Anyway, Samaritan Girl is not like the rest of the Asia Extreme catalog. It's a sexy drama that is also a really interesting slice of life film. Most Korean films that have been picked up by American distributors tend to be horror or thrillers but maybe that's because blood/slasher movies sell really well. Samaritan Girl on the other hand is far from a slasher, and while there is some violence, some nudity, and blood, it's really more like a Korean interpretation of the American indie film.The story is about two girls who are trying to save up money to get away from their town. They don't really have strong relationships with their families who are sort of out of the picture. It's like the Larry Clark film KIDS in the way that the parents aren't really there, or at least the parents think they know their kids, but they don't. Jae-Yeong, the prettier of the two girls decides to be a prostitute and makes her friend Yeo Jin, her business associate who sets up the meetings.The film's opener is awesome, with a really great credit sequence over the girls on Korea's instant messaging program picking up a guy.As the film progresses, there is some interesting sexual tension between the girls. They bathe together in a public shower house which is really sad and illuminates their aloneness. Yeo Jin tells Jae Young not to divulge to much to her 'clients'. Jae-Young who is clearly very childish, capricious, and obviously depressed and lacking self esteem, actually enjoys these encounters with men, as the attention is probably what makes her feel good about herself.About halfway through the film, Jae-Young has an accident (I wont give anything away here) but Yeo Jin decides to switch roles and become the prostitute instead of the secretary. Yeo Jin's father gets wind of the whole thing and starts to follow her on her sexual encounters. He eventually catches her in the act...and I wont give away the end.The film is really well done. And frankly, the two girls are really adorable and the film is really sweet and sad at the same time. It's also disturbing a lot of the time.If you're not in the mood to see people getting chopped to bits, but would rather watch an awesome Korean indie film (With really cute actresses, I should mention) this film is a great one to check out.