The opening film of the 2002 Pusan International Film Festival.
Compared with director Kim Ki-duk's previous movies, The Coast Guard can be considered as a "less unbearable" work. Kim has been notorious for horrifying the audience with such scenes as rapes, murder, and sadomasochism. Is this movie a sign that he has turned over a new leaf? Has he decided to stop making the audience uncomfortable? The answer is apparently "No." One night a coast guardsman (Jang Dong-geon) who wants to catch a north Korean infiltrator sees something moving so shoots it to pieces. A couple of minutes later, however, the guard discovers it just a young man making love with his lover in a restricted area. The soldier gets an award for his actions. Up to this point, the movie seems to talk about the tragedy of the country's division. But soon enough, the soldier goes crazy because of this unintended murder, and the movie goes back to the director's old theme: the pathetic aspects of human nature. Some fans keep coming back to more from the same director, even though they don't agree with what he says through his movies. What about you?
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