Leofwine_draca Will I ever see a Kim Ki-duk film I don't like? That's looking doubtful, now that I've watched SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER...AND SPRING, THE ISLE, and BAD GUY, and loved all of them. Like Herzog, he's an art-house director who really appeals me in the way he deals with dark and dismal themes that would be grim in the hands of a normal director but feel somehow oddly uplifting when he tackles the material. Perhaps it's because his films are so beautifully shot, I don't know.SAMARITAN GIRL sees the director returning to the subject of prostitution after the unforgettable BAD GUY. A couple of teenage girls make extra cash by hooking, until tragedy strikes. What follows is almost impossible to predict, as the story has an episodic structure, although the vigilante bit is undoubtedly my favourite part: ferocious, powerhouse film-making. As is usual for a Kim Ki-duk film, the acting is exemplary and the mood sombre and moving; this is an expose of the human condition, warts and all, for better or worse, and it contains a level of raw emotion that few directors achieve. The ending is excellent in its sense of quiet, contemplative reflection.

Yixin Cao Each man has, or makes a Lolita in his mind, or dream, and the problem is keeping in only in your mind and dream.The picture give a silent description on this provoking topic, without any comments and judgment.As all pictures of Director Kim, it aims at something deep in everyone's heart, and provokes endless rumination to all audience after they finish it.After all, the three mail roles in it, the father, the daughter, and the Samaritan girl, are all weird in behavior, which is also the common characteristics of all protagonists of Kim.

fertilecelluloid Uneven, marginally interesting Kim ki-Duk film. Ultimately, it is about a father coming to terms with his daughter growing up. Her "growing up" is prostituting herself to her dead girlfriend's ex-clients as a way of dealing with the grief. The film is broken up into three distinct chapters and is as tonally different as each third. The center section is the most kinetic and bloody, while the concluding section is the most protracted. The opening section focuses on the friendship between the two girls and is the most cohesive of the three. Unfortunately, ki-Duk is in danger of becoming irrelevant because his films are becoming very conventional in one sense, but very inaccessible in another sense. For exploitation fans, there is some mild female nudity, a couple of very bloody beatings, and a terrific dinner table confrontation.

Chris Blachewicz This is the only Kim's movie I've seen up to this day, but after "Samaria" I know I got to dig! The story's told in a very subtle, delicate way. The movie transforms itself slowly with time, which makes it more entertaining. The script is solid and the acting is good (these young girls sure can play!), which combined gives what every movie fan probably wants to see, although you got to be in the specific mood for this one. It's not a comedy, it's not an action flick. Kim gives us fragment of three people's existence, which leaves viewer with subtle and melancholic after-effects. If you're into that kind of stuff, you should sure as hell get it.