PodBill Just what I expected

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Spuzzlightyear A bit of a goofy movie here that supposedly explores the relationship of the Korean People to G.I.'s when the Korean War was going on, but it's all a bit too melodramatic, goofy and over the top to ever take seriously. A motley of Korean lower-class decrepit people try to get by on what they have, one of them harvests dog meat, a kid is ostracized because he's half Black, another has eye problems etc. It's somewhat interesting, maybe a tad overacted, but that all is forgiven when an actor billed as Mitch Mahlum screeches everything to a halt with his performance as a GI who falls in love with the girl with eye problems. He is just SO BAD. I can understand Asian directors maybe having difficulty with American actors because of the language barriers, but Mahlum just fails in all aspects, line delivery, mannerisms, and just EVERYTHING. Just horrible. But funny bad horrible. Yay!

Bobhand One of the reasons I enjoyed this film as much as I did is because it is one of those rare films that sticks with you! After I finished watching it, I felt compelled to stay up way later then I should have because I just could not stop talking about it! There was just so much going on! It was so powerful...dark, emotional, complex, intense. However, unlike most reviews that I have read, I noticed a few comedic elements as well. It was kind of a sad funny, but they were scenes that literally gave you a moment to catch your breath and laugh before being thrown back into the darkness... which I felt really made the film that much more powerful! The director is just so talented it's sick! No pun intended!

Michael Cumming Not unlike the Oscar Wilde play from which my "One Line Summary" for this comment is co-opted the director of `Address Unknown' requires his audience to think. In all of the Kim Ki-duk films I have seen (The Isle, Address Unknown, Bad Guy) what lies on the surface differs greatly from what lies beneath it. He is working in a language of metaphor and allegory with characters that range from caricature to archetype to fodder. By fodder I mean they are impenetrable and near impossible to empathize/sympathize with for the sole reason that emotional attachment is not the director's intention. He is creating a fictional world made to comment on the world we live in.By exploring the eclectic residents of an isolated South Korean village in close proximity to an American military base Ki-duk is dealing with a number of issues such as globalization (the base, the bullies who moved to America), language (the theme of English, the comic interlude of the Playboy translation), gender (obvious), race (obvious), history (that family whose father turned out to be a traitor, the constant references to the past from the veterans), tradition (the archery), relationships (Korean girl and U.S. solider), war (obvious) and violence (obvious). The bleak, violent, at times repulsive world the film takes place in is so over-the-top that the audience can't help but think that it is just a means to an end.In films like `The Isle' and `The Bad Guy' the black humour and sarcasm are more evident. `Address Unknown' is a tad more subtle but there are more than enough hints to indicate the film should not be taken at face value. An excellent example is the constant, almost laughable violence.Kim Ki-duk is one of a handful of directors striving to create intelligent cinema that is accessible as well. The East is bursting at the seams with talent and I really hope it starts to get the recognition it deserves.

yojimbo999 South Korean films are hard to get used to. They're laborious to witness and completely uninterested in pacing. I've found this to be the case in 9 out of every 10 Korean films that I have seen, and I have seen a LOT of them. For the most part, South Korean dramas are made for the art house audience, the same one that goes gaga over "The Hours" and the like. That is to say, if you like misery piled on top of misery sandwiched in between more misery so you can "feel intelligent", then this film, and others of its ilk, is your cup of tea. I have seen a lot of artsy film from South Korea and enjoyed many of them. "Sopyonje", a film that has relatively few moments of joy, ranks as my favorite film of al time. This movie, though, is just tedius and bored. It shouldn't surprise any viewer that American soldiers come across as worst than Satan in this movie, because the writer/director has probably NEVER MET a real American in his life. Judging by the American dialogue and "characters" here, this seems to be the case. Then again, I'm sure American films don't do justice to Korean characters, but that's neither here nor there. In any case, "Address Unknown" is a useless movie that provides nothing to the world at large.