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2002｜132 MIN | Drama

DIRECTOR LEE Chang-dong

CAST MOON So-ri, SUL Kyung-gu, AN Nae-sang, RYOO Seung-wan

RELEASE DATE August 14, 2002

CONTACT Finecut

Tel : +82 2 569 8777

Fax : +82 2 569 6662

Email : cineinfo@finecut.co.kr

Three years after his sensational sophomore feature A Peppermint Candy (2000), a daring and innovative exploration of the effects of the Gwangju Democratization Movement on modern Korean society, director LEE Chang-dong was welcomed with broad critical acclaim once more with Oasis (2002). A romantic drama that explores characters on the fringes of society, the film debuted in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, where it earned a quartet of awards.

Parolee Jong-du, a three-time offender, decides to visit the family of the victim of a hit-and-run accident he was involved in. He meets the family daughter Gong-ju (a name which also means ‘princess’ in Korean), who suffers from cerebral palsy and quickly becomes interested in her. When he meets her again (after breaking into her home), he loses control and forcibly sleeps with her. He leaves her his number and to his surprise, she contacts him again. The unusual pair begins to fall in love, but when their relationship is found out, Jong-du is charged with raping Gong-ju.

LEE teamed up with his A Peppermint Candy star SUL Kyung-gu once more for Oasis, but also with MOON So-ri, who had made her film debut in a supporting role in that earlier film. While both actors are sensational, it is MOON who gained the most from appearing in the film, as she was recognized around the world for her bold and powerful performance. She received the Marcelo Mastroianni Award for Rising Actor in Venice and went on to become one of Korea’s most respected actresses. Viewers may also recognize famed action director RYOO Seung-wan, who plays Jong-du’s younger brother.

In his most overtly emotional film, LEE explores an unlikely romance that struggles to find any kind of acceptance within the propriety and rigidity that pervades Korean society. However, while another director may have attempted to portray the struggle of sympathetic characters within a harsh society, LEE exposes the darkness of his protagonists as well as the world they live in.

While most of the film is shot in a straightforward and brutal style, LEE occasionally hints at a deep emotional warmth with a handful of brief fantasy sequences, which imagine the main characters enjoying their bond in a world of their own design that accepts them. 

Director LEE is currently working on post-production for his long-awaited six film Burning, an adaptation of a MURAKAMI Haruki short story featuring YOO Ah-in and Steven YEUN which many hope to see among this year’s Cannes Film Festival competition lineup.