Rating: 
Summary: No comparison
Review: "Lies" is simply a boring movie which lacks any finesse. To compare it to Mr. Oshimas "Realm of the Senses" is a grave injustice to Mr. Oshima". The plausibility of "Lies" is also rather low and the cinematography dull. Where "Realm of the senses" is a sensual feast for the eyes "lies" is stark and trite. The sexual scenes seem to want to do little more than put us off sex. Furthermore they are badly acted and directed. Lies may be important for korean freedom of expression but for the world of film-art it is of no relevance.
Rating:
Summary: Korean Porn
Review: Buy this if you enjoy watching pornography and S&M. The sex scenes are very graphic and at some points difficult to watch....There's nothing artistic or beautiful about this movie. If you don't enjoy watching repeated sex by the same two characters, spend your money elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: not many films like these are being made today....
Review: Capt. Freaky usually loves any kind of S&M sex stuff....however, this movie falls short of being a 5 star film because it lacks the quality of people we want to watch screwing! The girl is pretty enough (I suppose) but the man is "girly", skinny and not impressive as a "dominant" who can control any woman and whip her into submission...
Its appropriate that later in the film, he starts getting beaten and whipped by her....she cuts her hair very short (butch looking) and begins to take over as the man in this film. There are alot of "simulated" sex scenes... and a lot of nudity, so I gave it 3 stars for a few sexually tense moments, that are quite suggestive. Its always a turn on for most of us when an older man or couple becomes involved with a dumb, horny,teen....
I suppose considering its now 2005...this film goes places no film dares to go these days....its not full blown "porn" however...there are no "money shots" in this film.
To sum up my review...its a weak, "Asian" version of some of the old Euro-trash, soft porn stuff from the 1970's. Except most of those films are more interesting to watch and better to use as "foreplay" to poke your significant other, than this film would be....I imagine this film would be a serious turn on for a 45 yr old Asian housewife, who dreams all day about whipping the crap out of a naked, 18 yr old high school girl, who may be sleeping with her husband. Yeah for those women...this would be an exceptional foreplay film! Si-o-nara!
Rating: 
Summary: Exhausting
Review: Even as I went into viewing this movie with full knowledge of its contents, I came out of it rattled and my senses frayed. The premise is simple: a young girl and an older man meet and engage in a series of rather unconventional, sado-masochistic sex sessions, that eventually begins to unravel their beings. The film assaults you with its nihilistic points of view, flaunting its own defiance at all things conventional. The film-makers fix their focus on the ideas of relationships and love. They take these ideas, which had been given much florid and beautified treatments in conventional cinema, and strip them of even a trace of meekness and innocence about them. The director means to assert love and relationship as a series of pains inflicted between parties involved, in this case quite literally. Now, if we were to apply the above idea metaphorically to our own relationships, then it begins to make some sense. There are moments of brief but blissful happiness, and then there are truly ugly and painful moments in between. The point is taken and the movie is just a series of gags, albeit extremely graphic (and at points quite unpleasant). I found this central theme simplistic and singular, and quite dull, as dull as any movie with this much graphic acts of sex could get (because there is nothing really much to them after the initial shock of it wears off). The DVD's transfer is pristine, it includes some written comments from the director and a brief filmography of the major players.
Rating:
Summary: My suspension of disbelief couldn't penetrate this
Review: First of all, that an 18 year old girl would be so eager to, not simply get laid, but have every conceivable form of sex *right here right now* is ludicrous. In real life, she most definitely would not be as adventurous as this girl. Some of the activities she rushes headlong into would require serious begging and badgering of any real girl, and even then the results would vary. Secondly, said 18 y/o would certainly want to be more selective than quench her desires with some skeletal older man. A girl that pretty would certainly be able to pick up someone closer to her own age who would be more than willing to assist her with her needs, and probably do a better job at it, at least stamina-wise. Maybe there's a different mode of thought in Asia, but around these parts a teenaged girl wouldn't even think of hooking up with someone so old. At least in my experience anyway ;).
This movie is great as mindless erotica, but the premise is so utterly beyond belief--and the man so unpleasant to have to look at--that even the erotica suffers.
Rating: 
Summary: Tough Watch
Review: For a guy who's favorite films run in this genre (Blue Velevet, still ranks #1), this film was refreshingly different. At times difficult to watch...much like the gothic room in "The Image". While I am no expert in choreography or photography, I found the film to be well made. The story line, while a little hard to fathom being of a much different culture, was well written and kept my interest. More importantly, where this film is concerned both leading actors did an exemplary job of portraying the mental anguish as well as the physical. Well done.
Rating:
Summary: Avant-Garde Film Loses Focus
Review: I have to say that I like this film. There's something endearing about this awkward pair- a childlike man with a merciless need for whippings and a young woman with little experience in anything, sex or otherwise. But here's the problem: What seemed to drive this film in the beginning, and what it inexplicably gave up on, was a sort of experiment in which the director shows us the making of the film in the midst of the film itself. This is very effective, as this is the kind of film you see and wonder, "how could anyone do that in front of the camera?" We watch Lee Sang Hyun (the actress who plays the young woman) talk about how she feels about doing nude scenes. This could very well have been an audition tape. And after a particularly tempestuous argument between two characters, the scene cuts and the director steps into the shot. But this is where the experiment ends (these scenes are very early in the film) and it turns into just another forbidden love story. This film could have been Korea's "Breathless", instead of "9 1/2 Weeks" with a handheld camera and a whip.
HOWEVER!!! I understand there are reasons for wanting to have a film of this type in your collection. So, if you're looking for lots of cinema verite nude scenes with a very slender and pretty young Korean girl, "Lies" is a great buy. The sex is very raw and lifelike- and quite desperate. But I have to warn you- if S&M disturbs you you might want to stay away from this one.
Rating: 
Summary: not disturbing at all.... full of charm
Review: I think people seem to be missing the point a bit - misinterpreting themes of the book as themes of this film. I actually left the theater saying "That must be the cutest SM film ever made." The director does quite a few things to keep the audience aware that this is a movie we're watching. The sex is all obviously simulated, there are interviews with the actors, etc. etc. etc. All this makes this wind up seeming to be a movie about making a movie of a book rather than a movie of a book. I had the distinct feeling that the choice of subject matter was more of a wakeup call to Korean cinema/censors than anything else. What gives the movie its charm is the kind of freewheeling, almost naive "let's make a movie" tone of the thing. Not a masterpiece, but intelligent and a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Whip me again....gets tedious
Review: I'm not sure why I got this movie - I suppose the reviews finally convinced me to check it out. The lead actress is acceptably pretty (a model, in fact). The actor is somewhat thin and coarse-looking. Both are first-time actors here, but do a good job. I'm not into S&M, but can accept it as subject matter. Most of it is real in the movie, it appears. The sex is pretty graphic, and stops only a pube away from showing actual meshing of body parts. Basically what you have is repetitious sex and whippings. With subtitles. Odd that in a few instances, the crew actually enters the shot to comfort the actress after a demanding scene. The plot is unbelievable. Why would that attractive girl want that unattractive man? I don't know. I can't believe the reason she gives - too silly. A couple points by others to clear up or contest. The character is 18 (thinking about college), not 16 as someone else thought
- and she mentions she is tired of being thought of as a minor. In either case, the actress obviously was not born in 1984 as IMDB incorrectly lists. According to the DVD filmography, she was born in 1976, making her 22+ at the time. How can this remind anyone of "Lolita" apart from the age difference? Lolita was much younger, and there was no enjoyment on her part, nor any S&M. Just someone's silly comparison. I can't really recommend it. It gets boring and repetitious after seeing the same stuff over and over. Kinda pricey, too. To each his own.
Rating:
Summary: A fine film...but be forewarned
Review: Jang Sun-Woo is noted for his uniformly excellent art films (including the brillliant Hwa Om Kyung), but nothing could prepare you for this dark, hilarious drama. Here, a sixteen-year old high school girl seeks out a relationship with a 38-year old artist -- a man who happens to have a flavor for S&M. Some will be confused by the film, perhaps even wondering if there's much more to it. The best Korean filmmakers don't spell out their movies in the same way it's done in America, and this is no exception. Sometimes, the camera continues rolling after a scene has been shot, showing the actors troubled over the emotional content or explicitness of the film. Jang suggests that control and domination exists as an normal part of everyday life. We tell lies to ourselves about what we say we "enjoy," just as the tortured characters in Lies claim to enjoy their pain. This depth of filmmaking makes for an astonishingly fresh filmgoing experience. While frequently and outrageously funny, it is not the kind of film that you should watch without trying to engage yourself, asking questions and perhaps coming up with your own interpretations. Certainly, Lies is meant to be outrageous (it was banned in several countries, including Korea), but it's also thought-provoking and quite moving.
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