South Korea, 2002, 132 min 
Direction: Lee Chang-dong
Cast: Sol Kyung-Gu, Moon So-Ri, Ahn Nae-Sang, Ryoo Seung-Wan
Awards: Beak Sang Film, Beak Sang Art Awards, 2003, Jury Award – Honorable Mention, Bergen International Film Festival, Three Castles, Castellinaria International Festival of Young Cinema, 2003, Audience Award, Gardanne Film Festival, 2003, Golden Space Needle Award, Seattle International Film Festival, 2003, FIPRESCI, Marcello Mastroianni Award, SIGNIS Award, Special Director’s Award, Venice Film Festival, 2002; nominations: Independent Spirit Award, Independent Spirit Awards, 2005, Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival, 2002.
Selection: Retrospective of a Foreign Author
In Retrospective of a Foreign Author Selection, dedicated to South Korean author Lee Chang-dong, many times awarded movie called Oasis (Oh ah shisoo) from 2000, is going to be shown. The movie won eleven prizes in international film festivals, and among them is the prestigious FIPRESCI (Venice Film Festival, 2002).
Oasis shows quite an unusual love story. After going out of prison where he served his sentence because of a murder, Jong-doo goes to a visit to his victim’s family. They reject him, but he manages to meet the victim’s younger sister, Gong-joo. A strong connection between them based on their similarities starts to appear. Jong-doo is a bit odd; his older brother explains such mental condition as immatureness, while the rest of the family see Jong-doo as a shame and unpleasantness.
Gong-joo has, unfortunately to her family, become ill. She has cerebral paralysis, and she is treated by her family similar to Jong-doo’s treatment in his. Complicated family relations and their emotional and mental conditions, from the very beginning of their acquaintance, create understanding and acceptance from which an exquisite and untypical love relationship develops…
