the second half is a betrayal

Rating: 1/10 (15 May 2007)

This film starts out way cool and then suddenly becomes a mess.
the problem is simple - the director wants us to feel as much sympathy for the abductor as the abducted. This is a bad decision and ruins the film.
The abductor is a spoiled rich pervert. What do I care if he loved his sister or not? Once this sympathy thing starts, its all straight to the toilet.
Really unfortunate - this film starts out as a brilliant, disturbing look at social isolation, and then becomes - what? For the life of me, I don't know, and couldn't care less.
The film clearly begins as a comment on Korean politics of the past 20 years -n and then becomes sentimental/ existential slop - really cowardly (in writing this review, I realize I'm not just disappointed, I'm peed off - this should have been a great film, and Korea needs great films right now - instead I get some weird variant on American soap operas.) The first half deserves a "ten". it's truly brilliant - but the second half is such a betrayal, it drags the whole film to zero.
To the writer-director: Get your hormones working and turn out the film this was supposed to be.