I pulled a DVD from my local library thinking it was a DVD of the rock band Oasis, it wasn’t. But to my great surprise it was a deeply personal film from South Korea. For the uninitiated, South Korean cinema is known for its profoundly personal films and extremely difficult subject matters. Most films deal with issues that get glossed over on TV and would never be approved by any executive in Hollywood.Oasis is no different. It’s a study of how two disabled people (one with slight mental challenges and another with cerebral palsy) come together, fall in love and ultimately find themselves through each other. However, if you think this is a run of the mill story, you’re wrong. The lead character Jong-du Hong is uneasy to watch and merely watching his encounters is enough to make you stand up and walk around your house because it’s tense. I remember watching Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy for the first time and there were times where DeNiro’s character, Rupert Pupkin, just made you queasy and want to squirm in your seat. This is that type of movie. Sometimes actors can get under your skin because they are too real and the story hits too close to home. The entire time I watched Oasis, I was uncomfortable yet I couldn’t take my eyes off the film. Its one thing to hate a film and it’s another to shed light on a side of life you are unfamiliar with. Oasis isn’t a perfect film and I feel the ending of it was disenchanting, but the performances and the characters are as real as they come.
What I love about the new breed of South Korean cinema is that it’s brave, in-your-face and unrelenting. I like all kinds of movies and enjoy mindless popcorn flicks but it is equally important to seek out films like Oasis, because it may show you a side of life you are not familiar with. I believe that cinema can teach us about our world and give us insight to not just our lives, but other people’s as well. Every person you encounter throughout your day has a story that would probably fascinate you; the person giving you your coffee, an annoying co-worker, the person you flick off in your car and the sad looking person on the train. The new world cinema celebrates these lives and you should too.
Roger Ebert review of 'Oasis' at this link
