Samaritan Girl (review)

In between his gloriously Zen Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… And Spring and his urban Goldilocks fairy tale 3-Iron, Korean filmmaker Ki-duk Kim made this arcane and provocative film… and it cements his reputation as one of the most astonishing artists working in cinema today. Rage and forgiveness, castigation and redemption are the four extreme corners of love discovered along the winding, unpredictable paths of the relationships between two teenage girls, Yeo-jin (Ji-min Kwak) and Jae-young (Min-jeong Seo), who turn to prostitution to make money to run away to Europe, and between Yeo-jin and her cop father (Eol Lee), who discovers his daughter’s secret work and lashes out at her clients. The wild, startling swings of the plot are rendered as subtle and meditative acts on the parts of perplexed people who cannot come to terms with their own anger at the world, and at the betrayals of those they love. This extraordinary film asks much of its viewer, but rewards the attention profoundly, too. Extras include a making-of featurette and interviews with the filmmakers.