ISLE aka SEOM

Year: 2000
USA: Empire Pictures
UK: Tartan Films
Cast: Suh Jung, Kim Yoo-Suk, Park Sung-Hee, Cho Jae-Hyung, Jang Hang-Sun
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean (English subtitles)
USA: 85 mins
UK: 89 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains strong language, sex, violence and horror
USA Release Date: 16 August 2002 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 10 September 2004


Synopsis

A fishing isle approached only by a path through an isolated forest. Hee-Jin (Suh Jung) is the groundkeeper who leads a solitary existence, selling bait to the fishermen by day, and her body by night.

When Hyun-shik (Kim Yoo-Suk) an ex-cop who murdered his girlfriend for her infidelity arrives, Hee-Jin watches, fascinated by his apparent loss of the will to live. To end his despair Hyun-Shik attempts to shoot himself, but his suicide attempt is prevented by Hee-Jin, an act which is the catalyst for their intimate feelings for each other.

A police visit to the isle, in pursuit of a suspect leads to their target becoming fatally wounded whilst attempting escape. The shooting is witnessed by Hyun-shik, heightening his fragile emotional state and again he attempts to take his life - this time placing fish hooks inside his mouth.

Hyun-shik now in agony, is discovered by Hee-Jin. She attempts to cure his physical and emotional pain through sex. Their physical relationship becomes obsessive, intense and consuming and their fates inextricably entwined as they spiral towards their shocking and unexpected fate.