Seom

Una película poética, con un diseño de producción muy sencillo, con muy pocos diálogos, en la que todo se cuenta a través de las acciones de los personajes. Sin embargo, no se trata de una obra desafiante con un fuerte simbolismo, sino de una historia sencilla, rodada con un concepto minimalista del cine independiente. La sexualidad humana y el dolor físico son importantes medios de expresión en ella. Una obra pequeña y discreta pero notable. Eso si ignoras las dos últimas tomas cortas y no dejas que estropeen la impresión general. Se trata de una inserción muy contradictoria y barata por parte del director, que añade una nueva dimensión innecesariamente confusa a la trama anterior. (13.07.2002)

From the first meeting with the acclaimed Kim Ki-duk, supposedly a creator full of intellect, a very infamous experience emerged, full of purposeless brutality and raw sexual relationship. This pseudo-reality by no means creates a "film in which gestures are spoken." (05.12.2005)

The contrast between nature and violence and sex should be obvious to everyone right away. They all mention hooks that go where they shouldn't (I watched it with my classmates, so quotes like: “He'd like to do her, but there's a hook" were commonplace, which is probably why I couldn't take the movie seriously, I understood most of it, I figured out the ending on my own). This film is quiet. It doesn't shout anything at you, it doesn't force anything on you, and neither do the characters. I think it's best to watch it with more people and then talk about it. Why it ended the way it did. Was Kim Ki-duk trying to say something or did he just get an idea, "manufactured" it without meaning to say anything? Maybe he just wanted to show something. It's certainly a compelling film, and one that's delightfully spurs debate. It's just the ending that may disappoint some people. A weaker 4 stars. (07.05.2010)

Ki-duk Kim messed with my head as always. The Isle is another one of those films of his that I loathe and admire at the same time. Again, the main role here is played by the combination of beauty and innocence with ugliness and evil. The acting is not particularly distinctive, rather subtle, probably to avoid disturbing the atmosphere of the film. As a whole, it's an interesting film, but a lot of scenes were downright distasteful to me. 2.5 stars. (23.10.2014)