Nice effects though.

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is not a bad movie, I enjoyed especially that not everybody died in the end, as often seen in Korean movies. But I asked myself most of the time, in what world it takes place. Oftentimes I couldn't really grasp the decision making process of the protagonist, our police-lady. I can not imagine, that Korea works like this. First, is it really not possible to be an officer of the law and be homosexual in Korea? Second, why take the girl into her home and not call the authorities to take care of the situation? Are there no welfare agencies in Korea? How can the girl be left alone in her deserted home after her father's arrest? Highly implausible. Either Korea is a lot more 3rd world than I ever imagined or this movie is just crap story-wise with the typical glossy finish like often seen in Korean and even more Japanese films. Those super-professional film productions often hide very very bad stories in those two countries. And the strange and sad thing about it is, that many of those movies are highly regarded in western festivals and by western critics. A misunderstanding really. The looks of those drama movies tick the right spots for the artsy film critic. There are millions of movies with those production values out there from japan and Korea, this certainly is one of the lesser ones. Watch, but be aware it takes place in fairy tale-land.

Very sad film depicting the brutalization of a helpless child. She desperately latches on to a new authority figure in town a policewoman (Played by the great Doona Bae) to escape her personal hell.Sae Ron Kim gives an outstanding performance as the troubled girl. So sad because we know this kind of thing goes on all over the world. This is just a Korean version, but could have taken place anywhere. Doona Bae won the best actress award in the "Asian Film Awards" for her performance, so if you're a fan of hers, it is a solid performance.There were some minor sub plots, that really did not need to be in the movie, but that is only a minor criticism. I would recommend the film, but not for the faint of heart.

I just caught this film at the Dublin Film Festival. I always make a point of seeing any Korean film coming up - I love the way Korean film makers simply defy any notion of genre, they seem to delight in twisting expectations.This film didn't disappoint. At first, it follows the old plot line of a disgraced police officer, forced out to a dead end town to repair his (or in this case her) reputation. In this case, Young-Nam, a promising officer has been sent to an economically dying coastal town to keep her head down after an apparent scandal as she was outed as having a relationship with another woman. The film heads towards melodrama territory as she reluctantly starts to take care of an abused local girl, the daughter of a man seen by the other officers as too important to the town to take too hard a line with - they are content to hand out endless warnings without actually doing anything to stop him. Young-Nam is clearly unwilling to get too close to the girl, but finds it impossible not to offer her a safe refuge. From here, the film twists unexpectedly into some dark and weird territory as rather predictably, her good deed comes back to haunt her. The film does go into places where most films won't thread, in particular that difficult issue of the innocence or otherwise of abused children. But it is handled very sensitively, without shying away from hard questions.The film is not perfect - the performances are a little uneven (it looks like many of the minor characters are played by amateurs). Doona Bae is of course the big name in the cast, and she is, as always, a charismatic and powerful presence. She is one of those rare actors who can hold the screen even when showing little outward emotion. In truth, although she is entirely central to the film, the character is not as fleshed out as much as I think she should be - more the scripts fault than the actors I think. She is clearly a deeply unhappy woman, but its not obvious why she rejects the possibility of a happier life with her former lover. There are also some issues with pacing of the film, it seems a little uncertain at times, perhaps not surprising as the director is a first timer (but I have to say, she shows great promise). The film rolls on to a surprisingly (for a Korean film) conventional ending, but there are enough twists and ambiguity to make it quite a satisfying finish.

What an outstanding movie. The cast .. wow all so strong and believable. The characters that stick with you are the police chief (Doona Bae, what a talent that boosts everyone's performance here I think), the little girl Do-Hee(Sae-ron Kim, perfect performance), and the main protagonist(Hie-jin Jang) is very strong which makes the thing work. I also thought the Indian man's strong performance made that entire part of the story work (comes in about 2/3 into the movie).You will have to watch it, but the story has so many levels of plot and surprises. When people say it keeps you engrossed from the beginning to the end they are not kidding. Every scene had me thinking and pondering how I have seen this type of thing happen, and also how I have not seen the truth of matters because my perception was being manipulated -- giving in to stereotypes and lies as if they were actually true.The other aspect is that this is a very quiet film -- even the music is quiet. I was thinking during the credit -- I'm amazed such a quiet movie kept my attention -- but the reason is that the story and people are so darn interesting.I highly recommend it. I hope it gets some theatre or DVD/BluRay release in Region 1.