MovieChat Forums > Samaria (2004) Discussion > things that bothered me/left me with que...

things that bothered me/left me with questions

posted 18 years ago by fredbel6
10 replies | jump to latest

I taped this movie, and watched it with great attention. It was not bad, but I also had high expectations. There are some things that bother me though :

-The prostitute was always smiling? Was she being childish or uhm, was she an autist or slightly mentally handicapped? I have never seen any person making such a weird face just before leaping voluntarily out of a window.

-Is my assumption correct that the policemen and his daughter were christians? Just how big is christianity in Korea? In that other movie I recently saw, Uninvited, most people were christians too. Or is that coincidence?

-The policemen, they were very fast both times they tried to intervene. How did they do that? And why didn't the policemen race down upon seeing the girl had fallen? No, they let the other girl drag her away, which could make things so much worse.

- Are most prostitutes in South korea doing it for fun, like going on a trip to Europe? I found that hard to believe?

- This movie has a way of telling a story that I am not used to. First the focus is on the two girls, their friendship and plans. Then the focus is completely on the daughter, and after that we see everything from the father's point of view. Is this typical for the director?

Don't get me wrong I am not dissing the movie, it's just a couple of stuff I found weird

[–] me_aburro 18 years ago

First at all, she was smiling to her friend, but at the same time she was trying to tell her with her facial expressions she will always be with her (in my opinion).

They were not certainly christians, the father was just interested in things that happen around the world and some of them contained christian themes.

the policemen were surprised by the girls reaction, and I think they didn`t intervene becausae otherwise they could be pointed as guilty for ther damage of the girl.

About the korean prostitutes, take in count they were teenagers, they do anything without thinking too deep of the consecuences. They didn`t need to travel to Europe, and the rush for the prostituting job was the cause of their acts in first base.

Many koreans directors don`t stuck just in one theme, they search different views and most of them converge in one story, it`s quite good to do this, so the movie gets richer and doesn`t become just and ordinary three points plot.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] za_kannushi 18 years ago

Religion in Korea according to world fact book:

no affiliation 46%, Christian 26%, Buddhist 26%, Confucianist 1%, other 1%

Although only about those 26% are Christian, all the Christian Koreans I've met are very devout and frequently go to church. In comparison, in my own country, Denmark, about 90% of the population is officially Christian, but I know only a very few people who go to church. Most members of the church would even label themselves non-religious.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bananaman2000 18 years ago

Christianity is very big in Korea. If you look out at the Seoul city scape out night, it is littered with bright red neon crosses, all signalling a church. I can't imagine any country in North America having that many churches in such a small radius. I always wondered how they all managed to get followers, but somehow they do.

[–] Aizyk 18 years ago

Here in the Southern U.S., there are towns with a church on practically every block.

If one goes by the method of categorizing everybody into a religion whether they are active or not unless they specifically identify as Atheist and/or Agnostic, then almost half the population of Korea qualifies as Christian, and over half of those are specifically Catholic Christians. I believe Methodists are the second largest Christian group. There are about the same number of Buddhists, and most of the small remaining percent practice have religious practices that are supposedly even more ancient and native to Koreans.

I'm not a fan of Christianity, but I remember one of the most bewitching sights I've ever seen was when I was on the subway one night in Seoul. The car was travelling on a long elevated bridge between tunnels, just above the height of many buildings, and when the panorama of the cityscape suddenly appeared, among the rooftops from near and far into the distance were dozens of electric crosses.

| Fools rush in--and get all the best seats. |

[–] kjetil-16 17 years ago

The other half is Protestants, not Methodists. Koreans have this weird habit of naming Protestanst Christians for "Christians" and Catholics Christans "Catholics". And neither the Protestants nor the Catholics would ever name a Catholic for a Christian, since the word "Christian" is by the Koreans a synonymous for "Protestant". I guess thats why you didn't quite knew that the other half was Protestants; The Koreans don't use/need the word "Protestant". :-)

[–] lia-coconut 18 years ago

My whole family is Chatholic and my mum is quite devoted to it, like going to church meetings etc.
My R.E. teacher couldn't believe that I was ACTUALLY catholic and didn't just convert when I moved to Germany.
He thought I was buddhist just because he thinks most Koreans are buddhist which is not true.

[–] thao 17 years ago

Here is what bothered me:

1) That the policemen did not go down to help the girl.

2) That the hospital had only one nurse and one doctor working on a girl who was dying. And the doctor looked like he did not know what he was doing.

3) That the doctor would know that she would gain consciousness in two hours. Now how would he know that?

4) That the father did not talk to his daughter after finding out. I have 3 daughters and I don't believe that any father would behave like this.

5) And finally, I just don't believe the motivation behind the girl's action. How would she help her dead friend by sleeping with these men? Why would she want to do that, after being so much against it in the beginning and knowing that it killed her girlfriend?

I personally think it would have been much more interesting if she killed these guys and her father got the case and found out that it was his daughter who was behind it.

- This comment is most likely authentic and fairly close to what I intended to say -

[–] Dragon_76 17 years ago

1. It's a movie (storyline).

2. It's a movie (budget) and it's not an American hospital.

3. It's a movie (storyline).

4. It's cultural. Due to ideological differences and the hierarchy of the family roles, Korean men, albeit stereotypically, do not discuss things with their families. Take the suicide guy, he doesn't discuss or contemplate, he just acts. It's a shame, but not that unusual for the father to act on his own without discussing it with the girl. If he had, it would have been an American movie, not a Korean one.

5. It's a movie (the guy wrote it that way). Teens are not rational at all times or at all levels. Some adults barely are. Is this movie realistic? Probably not, but it does show you the mentality of the people involved and how things can be construed that way.

As for religion, yes Christianity has a strong presence in the country. Landing in Korea at night you can see the red crosses scattered across the horizon. Eerie and yet strangely soothing as well.