This film is played with such precise acting of natural behaviour that the outcome of the story just deepens your heart and mind in believing why we humans do such cruel activities and leave those who cannot enact decisions for themselves to suffer from our greed and desired darkness that makes us the monster that we are ..... This film is a prime example on why we should look deep in the well of our hearts and souls and try to forgive and understand the simplest of cruel intentions we blind out which then snowballs to this extent of cruel injustice to the innocent that are fallen angels amongst us... This truly is a magnificent movie for those who want to understand the eternal darkness of a corrupted mind...

This turns out to be a surprisingly difficult question to answer, especially considering that watching Oasis is a complete waste of time if the answer turns out to be "no". Obviously the producers, screen writers, actors and director are all doing their best to generate a positive response.But it is a tribute to the integrity of the story that a "yes" vote doesn't come easily. Jong-du is an ex-con with three convictions on his record. After being paroled for vehicular manslaughter, he unaccountably decides to pay his respects to the family of his victim. There he meets Gong-ju, a young woman stricken with cerebral palsy. He gives her flowers, but a follow-up visit ends disastrously in an attempted rape that is interrupted only when Gong-ju faints from horror.During this visit, Jong-du gave Gong-ju his phone number in an attempt to put her at ease, and Gong-ju eventually decides to call him. Against all expectations, they find they have a lot in common and a romance blossoms.Against this unpromising backdrop Oasis has a long uphill climb to win the audience's sympathy. It's not an easy transition. The revelation that Jong-du is innocent of manslaughter and confessed only in order to save his older brother helps. The inexcusable neglect and mistreatment of both Jong-du and Gong-ju by their families helps even more. These are two people that deserve better treatment than they are getting from their closest relatives.Oasis benefits from outstanding performances by both its stars, great directing, and a riveting screenplay. In a lot of ways it's not an easy movie to watch, but I was mesmerized by the characters coming to life before my eyes and forming a relationship that for a time provided a refuge from their bleak existence, just as an oasis in a desert provides relief from an otherwise barren landscape.

Oasis is a love story of truly unique proportions. It is simply unlike any movie you are likely to see.Confronting, unusual, at times violent, but also heartbreakingly honest.Lead by a stunning performance by So-ri Moon, and ably assisted by Kyung-gu Sol. The two bring amazing humanity to two very difficult and unusual character. So-ri in particular is brilliant, flawless and complex in her portrayal of the disabled Gong-ju Han. Her performance should be watched by any aspiring actor or actress as it is astonishingly good.The plot is difficult to describe without it sounding bizarre and unrealistic, but the direction and script transcend any difficulties the subject matter brings up, and ultimately deliver the viewer with an unrivaled experience in what cinema was meant to do. That is, show us life, in all it's intricate forms, to inspire us, challenge us and help us grow.Oasis is a power-house of modern cinema. An instant classic. It shows difficult characters, going through difficult situations, and the director has refused to water-down any aspect of the film, making it very confronting for the viewer.Yet another in a growing list of Korean films that have blown me away. Their industry is the best around in my opinion, combining the technical abilities of the big-budget Hollywood films, with the personal, human stories that you would see in European cinema, but doing this with an obviously Asian aesthetic. If you like Kong Kong or Japanese films, I recommend stepping up to Korean films, they are generally more personal, and shot with as much visual gloss as anything from the US.

We talk a lot about love in our society but often love is only acceptable to us if it fits our pictures. For example, the love of an older person for a younger, love between members of the same sex or between disabled individuals may make us uncomfortable and rejecting. Winner of five awards at the 2002 Venice Film Festival, Oasis, a film by Lee Chang-dong, stretches our comfort zone to the limit with a boldly unconventional portrait of the love of a mentally retarded young man for a woman suffering with cerebral palsy. The film is both emotionally honest and powerfully realized and will keep you pondering its implications for a long time. Moon So-ri's performance as Gong-ju is nothing short of astonishing. She goes through contortions to make us aware of the agony of her illness, but is never inappropriate or over-the-top. Her movements are spasmodic and uncoordinated and she appears to be in constant pain but there is a kindness in her face that allows us to see the person behind the pain.As the film opens, Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu) has just been released from prison and is freezing in his short sleeve shirt in the middle of winter. Jong-du is a sociopath who flaunts society's rules, unaware of or unconcerned with the consequences of his actions. Unable to hold a job and always on the edge, he has been in jail three times: for attempted rape, causing an accident while drunk (he took the rap for his elder brother), and armed robbery. On the spur of the moment, he decides to visit the family of the man killed by his brother and apologize. When he arrives, he finds a husband and wife moving out of their apartment, leaving the husband's seriously disabled sister, Han Gong-ju (Moon So-ri) for the neighbors to look after. Jong-du is attracted to the disabled woman who seems barely in control of her own body. He returns for another visit but it sadly ends up in a disturbing sequence that is very difficult to watch. Surprisingly, Gong-ju invites him back once more and the two slowly begin a friendship based on their mutual feelings of isolation. He provides her with the closeness she desperately needs and she finds someone to care for, maybe for the first time in her life. As their relationship becomes known, both families are scandalized and, aided by the prejudices of society, transform the innocence of their love into something sick and twisted. Oasis is a thought provoking film that does not stack the deck towards one point of view. It depicts the joy that the relationship brings to the lovers but also shows the understandable unease of the families about the fitness of a man who has demonstrated his emotional instability. The film shows the thin line between the desires of the individual and the needs of society and forces us to look at the disparity between the reality we see and that seen by others. While his ultimate message may be ambiguous, Lee makes us brutally aware that for many people life is a party to which they haven't been invited. Out of a willingness to have his characters confront the truth of a world that will be forever hostile, he offers a compelling vision of what love truly means and allows us to experience the oneness that defies reason and logic.