The first time I ever saw this film, it was on the shelf of a Hollywood Video, with a cover that made it look like some asian soft porn exploitation film. I, having much better things to do with my time, passed it by. Some time later, I was browsing IMDB, looking up films directed by Ki-duk Kim. Ki-duk Kim is the director of one of my all-time favorite films: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring. I was surprised to find Samaritan Girl listed as one of the films he had directed.

With my new Netflix subscription obtained, I decided that it was time to see what other masterworks Ki-duk Kim had created...

Yeo-Jin and Jae-Young are high school students. They have a dream, to go to Europe together. To pay for the tickets, Jae-Young has become a prostitute, and Yeo-Jin acts as her pimp. Jae-Young is fatally injured during one of her "meetings", and Yeo-Jin, in penitance, starts sleeping with all of Jae-Young's old clients...

Yeah, it even sounds like a soft-porn plot, or at least what I'd assume a soft-porn plot would sound like.

Ki-duk Kim, on the other hand, has made a sad, tragic film about the loss of innocence. Yeo-Jin's descent is believable, if sad, and the way things unfold (especially the behavior of another extremely passive-agressive individual) has an aura of truth to it that chilled me.

Thane says see it, but if you have a soul, bring hankies.