"Oasis" was highly celebrated by international film critics in 2002. Director and screenwriter Lee Chang-dong, who had with "Peppermint Candy" in 1999 already contributed a milestone in Korean film art, came up with this unusual love story between a mentally retarded young man and a young woman with infantile cerebral palsy. In doing so, he once again relied on Sol Kyung-gu and Moon So-ri, who had proven themselves as a couple in "Peppermint Candy" and who now once again deliver truly outstanding acting performances in "Oasis". The list of international awards – i.e. in Venice, Vancouver, Bergen, Brisbane, Seattle and Seville - as well as in South Korea, is long. And rightly so.

“Oasis” is pure (independent) KMovie! It impressively embodies a great strength of South Korean movie production: ruthlessness! Even if social life is characterized by facades, coats, make-up and social reputations, modern South Korean cinema has (since the end of dictatorial censorship) proven what 'independence' really means. The freedom to finally show things the way they really are! Not being afraid of what is hurting, what is ugly, what is disgusting! The brutal revelation of the emotional abyss to which the human soul may be exposed over the course of a human life. Situations and moments in life that people tend/wish to quickly forget. The cruelties that people are capable of inflicting on each other. The look behind the facades and underneath the coats, where we are naked and without make-up, alone and vulnerable. But this is where we are sincere and real, too. From there, a new form of beauty and strength can grow. KMovies bring to light even the unloved, unpleasant, repressed, despised, perverted, uninhibited, disturbing human emotions with magnificent intensity, which are often presented so authentically that it hurts (because it's so true). The protagonists have no claim whatsoever to be likeable. This creative courage, when it comes to production and performance, as well as the audience´s willingness to open up to these cinematic works is (in my opinion) almost unique.
“Oasis” offers an impressive expression of this particular artistic attitude. This is a thought provoking KMovie confronting the arrogance of the ´normal´. The plot is about a young woman and a young man who – in the eyes of their social environment - preferably should be socially isolated and actually locked away, as they are supposedly unpresentable. Because of their disability, they are ultimately just a nuisance, causing work and trouble, irritating the 'normal' people with their unpredictable behavior, and actually not contributing anything... Because the families are ashamed of them.

The KMovie bluntly frames that social norms are in fact more important to 'us' than people. "Oasis" encourages to open up a bit and approach the lives of those 'waywards'. And lo and behold! They are sensitive, soulful people like 'us' - with feelings, dreams and longings. They are falling in love. They long for relationships. They are just people, too. Lovable people. Adults with their own lives.

'He' is a physically healthy man in his late 20s, but at the mental level of an 8 year old. He is strong, but easy to manipulate and rather simple-minded. 'She', on the other hand, is physically handicapped due to her severe infantile cerebral palsy to such an extent that she is dependent on help. Due to the impairment of her nervous system, which affects voluntary motor skills, speech disorders, spasms, as well as sensory and motor limitations are occurring, too. Intelligence isn't actually her problem, but that young woman in "Oasis" apparently wasn't given any specific assistance, just basic care. She has her difficulties communicating.

The way the families treat their ´waywards´ is horrendous. In fact, they are both unscrupulously exploited and abused. And both are helpless in their own ways. He doesn't fully grasp the situation. She is physically dependent on helping hands.

The romantic relationship between the two is quite something else. Their start can be considered downright dubious. And yet, as the odd couple they are, they both are happy together. The picture of the oasis on the wall jumps out of its frame and fills the room. In their togetherness, the couple has created an almost magic space where their souls can relate and recharge, where they can be a different person. It is touching, indeed. ´He´ is a responsible man and she is a desirable woman! Yet, this reality is completely alien to their social environment. The families don't have the slightest idea, that this could be even possible: those two ´handicapped losers´ being actually able to genuinely caring for each other and loving each other just the way they are. Not even their closest families honestly tried to truly reach out and attempt to understand their brother/sister.

Bringing the quality of this relationship against all odds authentically to the audience is the unique beauty and strength of “Oasis”. Although 'beauty' is not otherwise something, one would directly associate with this movie. There is hardly any beauty in the world of those two protagonists, where their environment isn´t taking them serious at all. They are either patronized or treated in a disrespectful and disdainful manner. Nevertheless, their feelings for each other radiate beauty and grace. Interaction may inevitably be rather awkward, but still they find their unique way. In the end, it all comes to an almost passionately brilliant finale when HE risks everything in order to by all means keep his promise to HER: sawing off the branches of the tree in front of her window, which only cast shadows on her beloved oasis picture on the wall...

The KMovie leaves us with our thoughts behind. Touched. And - substitutional for those two families, the police, the neighbors etc., who in their arrogance are blind to the inner world of those two lovers – ashamed, too.