Lars von Trier has said art or film should be like a rock in your shoe. Well, Chang-dong Lee's film Oasis is that rock. Beautiful, well written, well acted, subtle use of camera-work to create a tighter, more claustrophobic experience with characters that you do not want to be forced to stare at. Oasis will make you cringe, cry, laugh, think...think about many things, one of which being the genius that is Chang-dong Lee. The man made his debut with Green Fish around 1997 and it was a mediocre low-level gangster genre film; it had its nice flourishes, good writing, etc. But since then, starting with Peppermint Candy in 1999, Lee has only made masterpieces.

The greatest love story I have ever seen on film. A bold assertion that I made some seven years ago as I floated out of the theater completely blown away by the magnificence of this motion picture. Whenever I doubt that claim, I know it is time to revisit Chang-dong Lee's amazing expression of love on film. There is a point early in the picture where you will think that I am insane in my declaration. That's what helps to make it such a great story. So-ri Moon and Kyung-gu Sol both give phenomenal performances as the imperfect people who discover that love exists in its own plane, and this perfection is available to them. When I read the first part of this review, I sound like "Mr. Chick Flick"; which I am not. And after reading the preceding gushfest, I wouldn't and didn't change a word. It really is that good. It is on my all time top ten list most days (admit it yours has a degree of fluidity to it as well) and always in my twenty best of all time.

Exploring a world of frustrated lovers, Oasis manages to delve into a society that seems to destroy the identities of two socially inept people. Oasis is a film in which the acting and direction both take on forms of subtly and explicit movement. Both starring roles of this film have their own unique mannerisms that are constantly pushed to show the awkwardness of their situations. However these mannerisms seem to break when these two come together. As reflected in the title, these characters create their own separate oasis for themselves throughout the movie. The characters themselves seem to represent an idealistic hope of acceptance and love, which in return is constantly shattered throughout the course of the movie. In the end the culture that has neglected and insulted these two, destroys what little hope they have to explore their own potentials as human beings. The interlopers, mostly in the form of family members, constantly relinquish their obligations towards these vulnerable people. A scene in which this most obvious, is the scene where a family photo is being taken. Throughout the course of this brief scene the characters uneasily express their emotions towards the unwanted guests at their party. In defiance the main character abruptly leaves much to the dismay of his brothers showing that his family has completely abandoned their very basic duties towards their own kin. This film continues to build and share the frustration of the characters as the movie progresses. This frustration is juxtaposed against the two lover's ability to fall into a world of their own. The main female actor manages to change from a mentally challenged cripple to a bubbly, lucid individual in a manner of seconds. Watching this transformation happen is truly a feat in acting ability and only adds to the depth of these characters. This melancholic movie is punctuated by the unique Asian style of film making. Long shots accent the awkwardness of the otherwise mundane situations this movie presents us. This film is truly an interesting introspective into the world of the challenged, the aggravated, and the neglected.

Before watching this film, I thought of Korean movies as sweet, tear-dripping melodoramas. And I was waiting for a movie to totally change my stereo type. So, here comes this movie. Yes, it is about a physically challenged person. Yes, it is about prejudice and sexual violence. This might not be a movie that many Korean movie (Last Presents or Love letter...) lovers like. This movie is not sweet, but very bitter. The people around the two protagonists seems terribly selfish. But most of us are on that side, not the two outsided protagonists. Watching them treated badly by the world full of prejudice which we might commit in real life,is really painful. But still, the live the protagonists lead are very beautiful, sometimes even laughable.