Certainly not for all tastes, Ki-duk Kim’s brooding Korean psychodrama takes place on a misty lake where people come to fish on small floating huts and generally escape the world. The story hinges on the nearly wordless relationship between a suicidal man and the woman who works on the shore, and while it in no way reflects actual human behavior, it is strikingly effective as a metaphor for pain, loss, and isolation, not to mention the dark connections between sex and death. The film’s cinematography, despite being restricted to a single setting, is constantly evocative, even as the film skirts dangerously between intrigue and tedium. (DVD)