mainstream?

I was a bit surprised that several people criticized this movie as being more mainstream, as though Kim Ki-duk had somewhat compromised his art to cater for a wider audience. While there is an element of predictability to the story, it would be hard to argue that concepts such as kidnapping and a near-incestuous and/or near-pedophilic relationship (depending on how you characterize the relation of the old man and the girl) would constitute a subject matter fit for the masses.

I found it to be a very powerful and symbolic movie. It is easy to draw parallels with "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring" for example. In that movie, the temple, which was completely isolated and existed in a time realm of its own, represented an escape from the madness of modern life. In contrast, the boat which initially appears to serve the same role, provides a setting that is in constant turmoil due to the continuous clash between the fishermen, representing modern life, and the old man, who is trying to cling onto his isolated life-style.

Where in "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring", the main character ends up leaving and being corrupted by the outside world, here it is the opposite, where the isolated life style makes him loose touch with the realities of the world, and the impact of his actions on other people. This results in the girl finding herself torn between these two very different lifes.

I thought it was very brave of the director to, firstly, have explored the other side of the coin, and secondly, have attempted to tackle a controversial subject. You cannot help but develop some level of understanding of the old man actions, and of the girl's appreciation of him despite the facts that are uncovered.