Samaria (Samaritan Girl) (2004)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lady D

  
  Quite an unusual and interesting storyline, one that starts in a direction and ends up in a completely opposite direction. A very watchable film, but also quite easily forgettable.

• Arash X

  
  Ki-duk Kim's movies are magical, Impressive & filled with symbols & metaphors & this one is no exception

• Tsubaki S

  
  Kim Ki Duk film's are such mixed bags, they have some very good moments, then some very retarded and stupid moments that almost makes you forget about the good ones. It seems as if the guy can't decide what to do, a "shock" flick, or some spiritual-esque thing… More
  Kim Ki Duk film's are such mixed bags, they have some very good moments, then some very retarded and stupid moments that almost makes you forget about the good ones. It seems as if the guy can't decide what to do, a "shock" flick, or some spiritual-esque thing about the human condition and growing up and such. He's a bit like Michael Haneke in the way that his stories and characters stop acting like normal humans would do in the same situations and start behaving in a certain way just fo fill the mechanics of the plot. This one is a bit more focused than other films KKD has made, but i still just can't get it into it. Maybe if he wasn't so worried about shocking and using pointless "symbolism" and was rather focused in writing a story the guy could improve. The directs well his actors, and that's mostly why i'm giving the ammount of stars.

• Luke B

  
  A film of such amazing power that I watched it three times in a row from 2 in the morning til 6:30. Most all other films I would have fallen asleep. The performances are incredible, but it is really Duk's handling of the films issues as well as the fathers emotional journey that… More
  A film of such amazing power that I watched it three times in a row from 2 in the morning til 6:30. Most all other films I would have fallen asleep. The performances are incredible, but it is really Duk's handling of the films issues as well as the fathers emotional journey that make this film a must see for all.

• Daisy M

  
  Director Kim Ki-Duk gave us an insight about teenage prostitution in Korea with Samaria,but for me this was not a film about prostitution, I found that the film was more about emotionally relationships, between friends and family. The film was basically set into two parts. Part one… More
  Director Kim Ki-Duk gave us an insight about teenage prostitution in Korea with Samaria,but for me this was not a film about prostitution, I found that the film was more about emotionally relationships, between friends and family. The film was basically set into two parts. Part one was about Jae-Young, a teenage prostitute and her best friend Yeo-Jin. The second part was about Yeo-Jin and her father. Each part had its tense moments, and the director, pretty much did a good job telling the story and showing the audience: tragedy and closeness. There was not sex or violence like other typical prostitution movies, it was more used as a medium to get the point. The ending was kind of confusing.

• Wu C

  
  Another moody character study by Kim. Runs out of steam halfway thru.

• Eduardo C

  
  The more I've seen of his work there more I've, unfortunitely, come to believe that Kim-Ki Duk is a misogynist. It is not so much that he hates women but that he sees very few roles for which they are suited, chief ammong them as prostitutes. In many of his films it is the… More
  The more I've seen of his work there more I've, unfortunitely, come to believe that Kim-Ki Duk is a misogynist. It is not so much that he hates women but that he sees very few roles for which they are suited, chief ammong them as prostitutes. In many of his films it is the role of women to redeem men through sex, often through debasing themselves sexually. Women, as Kim-Ki Duk shows them in his films, are not characters but objects. I will be purposefully vague from now on so as to avoid spoilers. The first chapter of "Samaritan Girl" takes place in a universe where child prostitution is a beautiful, safe act. The myth of the happy hooker prevails: the prostitute loves her job, meets nice men, makes good money and gets them to feel better about themselves. The way this chapter ends is so arbitrary that I felt no impact. None of what had happened had made much sense, so the final sequence *(however beautfiful the image) was empty, devoid of emotional investment. The second chapter begins on an equally arbitrary note, but has two scenes which are very strong, much stronger than anything in the first chapter, and it was at this point my severe disappointment began to dissuade. The third and final chapter is absolutely beautiful, poetic, right up there with Kim Ki-Duk's best. I understand what he was trying to do with the film (a tale of childhood innocence lost and a sense of purity regained with adulthood looming near) but there is no reason for the first chapter to have used the lazy plot devices it did. Even much of the second chapter is lazy, despite the above mentioned strong scenes. There are many, many other ways the paradise lost and social commentary of the early chapters could have been handled and used to set up the last one. Kim-Ki Duk specifically chose these out of all of them, and unless I start seeing some strong female roles in some of his films my mind will be made up forever. This is a good film, mostly on the strength of its last chapter, but a troubling one in the early going. I do recommend it, but with trepidation. I almost feel guilty for liking it, all things considered.

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