Desertman84 Oasis is a dark film that is not suited for everyone. It requires an open-mind and some deep thinking as well. Aside from that, the characters and their actions requires sympathy and understanding. Chong-du is a jittery, wiry man with an extremely short attention span whose level of energy sometimes borders on the psychotic. He returns home after serving a sentence for vehicular manslaughter, only to be treated with contempt by family members and ostracized by friends.The film provides the viewer a realization that even physically disabled people have their own emotions to fulfill and satisfy just like normal people. The acting in the movie was great. Unfortunately, it didn't deliver into a brilliant film like Oldboy for it lacked the requirements to become a masterpiece. But nevertheless, it is a must-see especially for people who want to understand what people with disabilities undergo through their daily lives and to realize their needs that could not be understood by normal people.

ratcityfilmsociety 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.

lreynaert This movie begins with one of the most violent scenes ever shot: the rape of a spastic girl by a man with a feeble mind. However, by any standards, this movie is one of the most emotionally violent human love stories ever told. The rape turns into a love bond and the odd couple forms an oasis of love in an evil world, where there is no place for painted birds like handicapped people. More, feeble minds or spastic people cannot express themselves properly in order to reveal the truth or to defend themselves against false accusations. Their handicap is also exploited as a cover-up for the misdeeds of 'normal' members of their family. The acting is sublime with a formidable So-ri Moon in the role of the spastic girl.This movie with its violent emotional outbursts and highly charged confrontations is, by any standards, one of the greatest masterpieces ever shot. A must see for all movie lovers.

richrodi 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.