Samaria

Kim Ki-Duk's Samaria (Samaritan Girl) is both visually and narratively stunning. Making his characters observe each other, like one of his latest efforts Bin-Jip, Samaria is a film of beautiful silence, with not much dialogue, but at the same time saying so much through other means. Combining silence with violence and showing two young girls sharing a deep friendship in which they would do anything for each other, Samaria is heartbreaking. It's a film every film buff will appreciate. Ki-Duk once again puts his characters central, observing the ways they deal with secrets and trying to make peace with the way faith seems to have come into their lives and the lives of loved once, not always having the outcome our destiny they hoped for. Ki-Duk's characters really evolve, showing how events come to effect them and how they end up dealing with these events and eventually what is left of them after trying to cope. Both girls are potrayed very well, with Ji-Min kwak having the biggest role of the two. It's beautiful to watch her in the scenes together with her on screen father in which she manages to keep this innocence and yet showing also the burden of not able to tell what's on her mind. Together with the great photography and staging, which comes to be illustrated in a scene where the two girls come to sit next to a row of blue statues, a great picture, totally fitting for the whole atmosphere the film tries to project, Samaria again makes for a great Kim Ki-Duk film and can not be missed in your Ki-Duk collection.

What Is It about?

Two young girls, best friends, are saving money to one day leave the country and start life somewhere else. It's a big dream for these girls in their teens who share a bond that seems to go even further than just friendship. Providing for money for their future trip is Jae-yeoung. Only trying to earn enough for the trip and promising to quit once she has earned enough, she sleeps with men. Instead of not talking to them and just share the bed, she puts too much interest in them, at least for her best friend's taste, Yeo-jin. Warning her she should no longer speak to these men, it seems she might be a bit jealous. Jae-yeoung however doesn't listen and considering Yeo-jin is the one who arranges Jae-yeoung's meeting with men, standing on the lookout to keep check no police officers come to know of their actions, her jealousy seems a bit odd. When one day their future plans are ruined after police officers get notice of the still underage Jae-yeoung sleeping with a guy in a hotel room, Yeo-jin comes to stand alone.

Final Verdict: *****

Samaria is beautiful from beginning to end. It's a sad story of friendship, a father and daughter's relationship, and having to deal with a side of a person you love which you much rather had never found out. Ki-Duk perfectly shows how certan actions can effect people, making them do things they would normally never do, but out of dispair they happen to lose their minds for just a brief moment, acting foolishly, trying to cope with a secret. Ki-Duk perfectly combines different themes into one story, presenting both love, friendship, violence, death, jealousy, sex and many more. Making perfect use of the scenery, Samaria is drenched into this cold, blue atmosphere, completing the tension felt between father and daughter who no longer seem able to communicate, but keep silent, living in their secret. Ki-Duk knows brilliantly what to do with silence and speaking through showing. Characters wandering around, observing, staring blankly in front of them. Samaria is a film that should be seen by a large audience and not only those loving Ki-Duk. It deserves to be seen and experienced by many. A beauty of a film like Samaria should go by unnoticed.