Someone mentioned to me once that the films by Kim Ki-duk is like an acquired taste. Personally I had not taken that advice and dove into the deep end, only to find myself stuck in a confluence of mixed feelings, where some of the films had excited, others had disappointed going nowhere, though you must admit that there are always plenty of imagery in his films to admire, and a premise like none other.Within the first 20 minutes, we get introduced to the main characters, and the interesting, though weird premise that they find themselves in. Jo Odagiri stars as Jin, a man who often finds himself dreaming about some very vivid events, then out of curiosity one day, he visits an accident site that he dreamt about, and lo and behold, the exact same situation that he had seen subconsciously.His curiosity led him to dig further, and here he comes across Ren (Lee Na-yeong), a woman who sleepwalks. In more bizarre terms, Jin soon realizes that whatever he dreams of, Ren somehow will sleepwalk and execute it on his behalf, in real time. Hence the stage is set for this fantastical movie, where a couple find themselves having power over each other, and made more acute when they discover that perhaps their respective ex-lovers have got a part to play in their predicament as well.You'd come to expect that perhaps Jin and Ren would fall for each other, and this was even suggested at, but of course Kim Ki-duk would never go for the plain and ordinary. Instead he skews this potential love story into something more intense, and comical even especially when the couple try their very best not to fall asleep, one to prevent executing things against her wishes, while the other not wanting to impose his will onto another.Alas the ingredients that went into the film turned out to be not my taste. Everything went really weird especially when Kim settled for some gory moments of imagery to continue his story, some of which are squirmish enough to want to make you shut your eye from the nightmare. Also, having Jo Odagiri speak in Japanese throughout, and the only character to do so, seemed too strange as well, where everyone else was speaking in Korean. I suppose like Kim's earlier film in casting Chang Chen resulted in his character being mute, was nothing more than overcoming a technical challenge in making the actors speak the Korean language. Straddling the thin line between reality and fantasy would have afforded a tale told in this manner, but certainly this wasn't my cup of tea.The Closing Film of this year's Korean Film Festival, those in attendance will attest to bewildered voices whispering sighs of disapproval and sniggering at how ridiculous the film had unravelled itself into. I suppose if not for Jo Odagiri's role, many would have not batted an eyelid at yet another Kim Ki-duk offering for the masses. Was I disappointed? Yes, as the film could have been much more rather than a self-indulgent movie.

Kim Ki-Duk's tale of how a man and a woman become linked by dreams.It begins with Jin waking up from a vivid dream involving a car accident. Going to the scene he finds th police are investigating a hit and run accident. Following information from a traffic camera the police go to Ran's home find that she was asleep. Hauled to the police station Ran tries to protest but there are pictures of her driving the car. Jin tries to intercede and soon its discovered that Ran has taken to sleep walking recently.It seems that when ever Jin dreams Ran acts out his dreams but in an opposite way which means that Jin who is trying to see his ex-girlfriend whom he still loves, causes Ran to see her ex boyfriend whom she despises.This is a dark romantic tale is an often uncomfortable to watch since we know what the dreams mean. Ran is getting hurt because of what Jin is dreaming and there is little that the pair can do. Well acted, we feel for the characters because the actors makes it clear that sometimes its so hard to stay awake. They have created two nice characters that we feel bad for.Unfortunately the film has a couple of problems that work against the valiant attempts of the actors. First the score is not very good. It seems to belong to some cheesy exploitation film from the 1970's. For me it was all wrong and from the first notes it set a really bad mood. The other problem is that script doesn't really work. The characters are never fully fleshed out and as much as the actors try to breath life into them they sill feel a bit hollow or unformed. The trajectory of the story kind of seems too artificial. The film seems not to always be moving in a natural direction, I had the feeling that the director wanted it to go in a certain direction and thats the way it goes. This being a Kim Ki-Duk film it's ripe with a sense of darkness and or even dread. This is not a wholly happy tale even if it is ultimately a love story (there is some violent imagery).In the end I don't know what I make of it. I like the idea, I like the characters, but there is something about the way the film is told that rubbed me the wrong way. I think its an interesting misfire. (And lest you think that I don't "get" Kim Ki-Duk's style or his films, understand that I am a fan having all but his first three films in my collection.) if you're a fan of the director or adventurous, I think its worth trying for the characters and the pieces that work, but at the same time I'd wait for it to be a rental or (less likely) on cable.Between 5 and 6 with my feelings toward the film bouncing back and forth between the ratings

In this unusual and slightly ominous romantic fantasy from Korea, Joe Odagiri stars as Jin, a young man who experiences a foreboding nightmare about a traffic accident and feels compelled, upon waking, to travel to the same spot he visited in the dream. As it turns out, a hit-and-run accident indeed occurred there; curious, Jin tails the police to the home of the suspect - a beautiful young woman named Ran (Lee Na-Young) who vehemently denies involvement and cites, as an alibi, the fact that she slept the entire night. Jin relays the specifics of his dream to the cops and insists that they arrest him; they dismiss him as a crank and arrest Ran instead, but in time the young man and woman discover a bizarre pattern: when he dreams of specific events, she acts out those events in real life.

I watched this movie at the festival of ''Film Ekimi'' in Istanbul.I got excited when I learned that Kim-Ki Duk's film would be shown in the festival,I guessed we were going to watch a nice movie and at the end of the film I was not mistaken.Film's subject is shortly;A man dream she caused a car crash, then discovers a real hit-and-run accident. The driver is arrested by police as the prime suspect, though she claims she was not responsible.The film is very impressive and has got a shocking scenario.Kim-Ki Duk handled human relationships successfully and he edited very well.I hope many people will watch this movie..