Oseam
2003 - Korea - 75 mins
Korean language dialogue with English subtitles
Rated PG (Parental guidance advised)
© 2003, Mago 21 / Cinema Service
Director
Seong Baek-yeob
Production
Mago 21
Synopsis
Five-year-old Gilson and his blind sister Gami are orphans who wander the countryside searching for
their mother. By chance, the pair are discovered by monks who inhabit the hillside, and are taken
under their wing in body and spirit. Throughout the seasons, Gilson and Gami lead a quiet life in the
monastary, learning about life and the teachings of Buddha, until one day, Gilson decides to
accompany one of the monks to a temple in the mountains, to learn more about the soul's eye, so that
he can teach his sister to see the world again with her own eyes. However, with the snowfall comes
great change, and soon nothing will be the same...
Reviews
A beautiful 2D film, with a gentle and sure rhythm, Oseam is most easily compared to another
emotional heavyweight, the 1988 Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies) by Takahata Isao of
Studio Ghibli fame. Oseam is a distinctly Korean film, however; the scene composition, the
pacing, the thematic material (from a famous novel by Jung Chae-bong) all effortlessly depict a
fairytale for adults, beautiful and cruel. At times the film may seem only a collection of vignettes
or ideas, but it is at the end that the viewer is reminded absolutely that these pieces are part of a
whole, and tragedy snaps into focus: for it is then that we realise that innocence is worth caring
for, but Fate does not. Some have claimed that this is the reason why the story of Oseam is
really one rooted in Buddhist tradition, but we will leave that judgement to you.
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