Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at this year's Berlin Film Festival, Kim Ki-duk's 10th feature combines the darker-edged themes of his earlier films (Bad Guy, MIFF 2002), with the mature sensibility of his most recent masterwork, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and' Spring, also screening at this year's Festival.

Teenage schoolgirls Jae-young and Yeo-jin are best friends and saving up for a trip to Europe. Carefree and without inhibitions, Jae-young works as a prostitute while Yeo-jin acts as manager. Seemingly enjoying her work, Jae-young falls for a musician client and plans to introduce him to her father. But soon tragedy strikes. When cops raid a motel, Jae-young, who is turning tricks and is fearful of being caught, jumps from a window to escape. Fatally injured, she is carried to the hospital by Yeo-jin and she has a final wish: to see the musician one last time.

Kim Ki-duk, whose blistering oeuvre was the subject of a retrospective in MIFF 2002, has crafted a rigorous and complex film that takes a number of surprising, and often disturbing, plot turns in this powerful tale of guilt, redemption and sacrifice.

D/S Kim Ki-duk P Kim Dong-joo WS Cineclick Asia L Korean w/English subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2004/95mins

Kim Ki-duk was born in South Korea in 1960. Films include: The Isle (MIFF 2001), Address Unknown (MIFF 2002), Bad Guy (MIFF 2002).