The Circle (2003) User Reviews

Artistic movie that requires a lot of patience to watch...

[neostjames · 5/10 · 29 December 2008]

I watch a lot of Asian cinema and very rarely do I run across a film that challenges my patience like this one did.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that it's a horrible film. The acting is good in a B-movie sort of way and the directing is average as well so nothing's wrong technically. It's just that the script doesn't lend itself to being easily understood.

You'll understand what I'm saying if you've ever seen a David Lynch movie like Mulholland Drive or The Lost Highway. Like those films, things in Seokkeul follow a logic path that's not easily deciphered by the viewer. I'm sure if we had access to an interview with the director he could easily explain why he made the choices he did, both in script and timing but alas, we don't have that luxury.

I gave it a 5 because it's not hard on the eyes to watch but it will certainly test your patience and make you wonder why a 109 minute video suddenly feels like a 4 hour video.

artistic and satisfying

[thesiouxfallskid · 8/10 · 29 May 2010]

A man painting on a corpse is arrested and charged as a serial killer, a charge he does not deny. Thus the defense attorney has what seems to be not a winnable case. Certain events suggest to him that the accused was tormented by a past life and that the real culprit lies beyond the grave. He bases his case on the supernatural, a case which the prosecutor spares no energy in picking apart. After all a defense based on concepts such as reincarnation does not set well in our modern world. This much is apparent early in the film, and I'll just mention a few things, not to spoil the film (much more to it than just this) but to help it make sense. Think of lives having interconnections with each other and the past in ways not commonly understood. Think of redemption, of desires that find a reality. Think of the irony of destroying that which is most precious. Think of torrid love, of tender love, of self-sacrifice, of some meaning to life. Think of a circle. If you just want simple entertainment or to watch a film while taking trips to the refrigerator, this film may very well not make sense. But if you appreciate artistic films and don't mind getting engrossed in a film and don't mind concentrating and thinking at the same time, then you may find this film satisfying. It made sense to me. Music was well chosen and hauntingly beautiful. The story, characters, direction - all well done.