I saw this movie yesterday at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam.
Flower Island starts by "introducing" three women, who each in the past have had something happen to them that has mentally scarred them for life. Later through coincidence, they are united and together head to Flower Island, that according to legends will make you forget all your sorrows. And trust me, they have quite a few.
Flower Island is foremost a movie about emotions. Through sometimes graphic, at othertimes serene scenes, Flower Island tells an interesting story with some surprisingly effective visual tools. We see approx half of the film through the camera eye of one of the women as she has a dv camera with her. The movie was shot on DV but image quality is very reasonable and never distracts the user from the movies content (unlike Entre Nous). The Soundtrack is truly stunning and reminds me of certain musical "moods" as set in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream. One moving scene, a departure on a boat in the air (!) will remain imprinted in my mind for a long time.
I must warn that this movie is very slow. As with most japanese and korean cinema (this is korean), emotions are emphasized through long silent moments with at times sudden outbursts of tears. People that appreaciate the more subtle works of Kitano Takeshi will find some similarities here.
I recommend this movie to the more "advanced" asian cinema fan. If you were preparing for Final Fantasy ,Stormriders, or Swiri like cinema, you are _DEFINETLY_ at the wrong address.
