Prison of Secrets

Starring:Stephanie Zimbalist, Finola Hughes, Gary Frank, Rusty Schwimmer, Kimberly Russell, Tasia Valenza, Joel Polis, Dale Dickey, Paige Moss, Stephanie Sawyer, Brian Smiar, Janni Brenn, Dan Lauria, Joel McKinnon Miller, Stephen Quadros, Anita Finlay, Steven Banks, Bertila Damas, Robert David Hall, Dustin MacDonald
Director: Fred Gerber
Studio: Starlight Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

A young mother unknowingly breaks the law and is sent to prison. She is confronted by degradation and horror as guards extract sexual favors in exchange for everything from toothbrushes to drugs. Inspired by actual events.

Customer Reviews:

Prison of Boredom.......2006-11-10

The movie was very boring. It was a low budget movie with a low budget of excitement. I had to watch this movie four times before I was able to watch the movie in its entirety, because each time I tried I constantly fell asleep.

A cautionary tale, badly acted, written and directed.......2006-09-28

A selfish, stupid woman engages in white collar crime, and goes to prison for her misdeed. I say stupid, because she could have paid a modest fine and gotten away with her crime, but chose instead to gamble with her and her family's future by trusting her lot to a jury of her peers. They judged her as harshly as I did.

Once in prison, she is exposed to life's realities, possibly for the first time in her wretched existence. Seeing various and sundry sordid occurences beyond her middle class ken, she decides to meddle in the affairs of others (possibly motivated by petty jealousy, since she isn't getting any drugs or sex from the handsome male prison guards).

To make a long story short, her rabble rousing is eventually heard in Washingtonm D.C., a senator takes more than a passing interest in her, and her sentence is commuted to a home curfew. I guess the moral of the story is white collar criminals are better suited to country club prisons.

If you have nothing whatsoever to do, your DVD player is broken, and you don't feel like cleaning the oven, this movie might possibly entertain. Otherwise avoid at all costs.

Enter this prison at your own risk.......2005-11-21

Stephanie Zimbalist comes out of the woodwork to star in this movie that was inspired by a true story. I can bet a lot of it was fabricated, but am sure the gist of what happened is true. It is scary in this day & age to think of an American prison being so corrupt as this one is portrayed, but it is not beyond belief.

Zimbalist plays an everyday mother who inadvertantly breaks the law & is sent to prison. While there she is exposed to all sorts of horrifying practices of prison guards abusing their power & position. At every turn, her attempts to be proactive about the situation fail.

While most movies that deal with women in prison are of the softcore porn variety, rest assure this movie is VERY serious. I would even go so far to say as it's the women's prison counterpart to SHAWSHENK REDEMPTION. If you're interested in prison movies at all, this one is a must-have.

"You never know when doing good will turn to bad".......2005-07-29

This movie kept my attention throughout. It's about a woman who tried to save her employer as well as herself a little money on some business deals and she wound up in prison. While there, she encountered practically every sterotype known to mankind and then some. I would recommend that you see it for yourself.

Stephanie Zimbalist was great in this movie.......2001-10-26

Stephanie Zimbalist had once again demostrated to her audience and herself that she is a able actress. Hollywood should pay more attention to her and give her more roles in art-house/ independent movie roles. She was really good in this movie and a delight as usual to see her on the screen.

Description

Hailed as the seminal film of the Korean New Wave, acclaimed director Lee Chang-dong's Oasistells the story of two societal misfits (the award winning Moon So-ri and Sol Kyung-gu) and their struggle to find love and acceptance. Fate helped bring them together; family fought to keep them apart. The film truly is "a triumph...that gives humanism back it's good name (LA Weekly)."

Customer Reviews:

A Very Good Human Drama: Excellent Acting!.......2007-01-17

"Oasis," is a very poignant film from director Lee Chang-dong. The film gives powerful acting performances by the female lead Gong-ju (Moon So-ri) and her counterpart, the male Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu) which are both masterful. As the films narrative begins, Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu) has been released from prison. Jong-du is a sociopath who is unable to hold a job and has been in prison three times: for attempted rape, drunkeness which caused an accident, and armed robbery. He decides to visit the family of the man who was killed by his brother. He took the rap for his brother in the accident which sent him to jail. However, the family is moving out when he arrives, leaving a seriously disabled woman [the husbands disabled sister] behind.

The woman is named Gong-ju (Moon So-ri). Moreover, Jong-du finds himself attracted to this woman, who can barely control her body: She has cerebral palsy. When he returns at a later date, however, a very disturbing event occurs [No spoilers: I will leave this for you to view]. However, even though this event by Jong-du is disturbing, Gong-du invites him back again. It is here that these two outcasts of society begin to develop a friendship. Yet, this relationship causes a problem with both of the families, as they do not want any scandal. The families and society have come to see their relationship as twisted and abnormal.

The film shows the happiness of these two unwanted members of society, yet it also shows [not tells] the unease of the two families who are now caught up in the lives of these two individuals. On one side is a man who is emotionally unstable, and the other, a woman who must deal with the harsh realities of cerebral palsy: where her life is one of isolation. Director Lee Chang-dong gives a very insightful film about two people who are socially shunned by the society they live in. And yet, the director allows the viewer to see that they are both content to be with each other, and to hell with society and its mores. These two people both appreciate being alive, and have found each other. This is a drama, and as such, may not appeal to those who are into action films. However, I liked it. [Stars: 4.5]

Worth Seeing.......2005-09-18

This film poses the question of whether it is possible to experience love when you can barely express yourself verbally or physically. How many of us have ever really considered that question? Definitely orth seeing for the acting performances. Moon Sori was amazing, especially in the scenes where she momentarily lost her disability. A warning though - this film is painful and frustrating to watch, and the ending is lousy.

A Very Different and Poignant Love Story... .......2005-07-10

Even in Romeo and Juliet love is being brought to the audience through an agonizing tragedy where the two families disagree with their love. Director Chang-Dong Lee utilizes a similar tragedy in his Oasis where he enlightens the viewers of a much more contemporary issue where the two protagonists find themselves rejected by their own families. However, it is within the tragedy that humanity is given an opportunity to grow and show that love does reach beyond vanity and self-importance.

The opening shot displays an embroidered depiction of something resembling an oasis emerging from underneath the shadows of the night, as a tree outside throws its nightmarish shadow over the the embroidery. The camera finally reveals a small oasis in the middle of a desert with a Indian woman, a boy, and an elephant. This initial sequence continues for almost two minutes. A time that might seem like an eternity for introducing the title of the film. However, these two minutes will also bring to mind a different notion, which will disclose itself at a later point in the film. In addition, the film will return to this embroidery, as it represents the main motif of the film both literally and symbolically.

The film begins with Hong Jong-Du (Kyung-gu Sol) returning home on a bus with summer clothing in the middle of a freezing winter. Initially, Jong-Du's light clothing might imply that there is something wrong with him, and yes, there is something wrong with him. However, it is not his summer wear, but his social interaction with people that seems strange on a communicational level. He wanders home to find out that his family have moved without informing him about their whereabouts. Alone, Jong-Du drifts until hunger sets in and he gets in trouble with the law, which obviously is not the first time when it is revealed that he has just been released from prison. Fortunately, one of Jong-Du's brothers bails him out and brings him home, but it is not a dear homecoming for Jong-Du.

Every second of the film displays additional problems that Jong-Du has, and it is evident that Jong-Du suffers from some cognitive disorder. In an awkward and unwelcome visit of Jong-Du with the family whose father he accidentally killed in a car accident he meets Han Gong-Ju (Moon So-ri), the daughter of the deceased father. Gong-Ju suffers from cerebral palsy and is more or less stranded in her fathers old apartment, as her brother has found it convenient to leave her in the hands of her neighbor.

During the second visit to Gong-Ju, Jong-du breaks into her apartment out of curiosity. He talks with her and expresses his affection for her while leaving her his brother's business card with a phone number where she can reach him. Consequently, Jong-Du begins to express his desires for her by sexually assaulting her. It is with much difficulty one has to watch this dreadful scene, but it also further displays Jong-Du's inability to function on a normal level. She passes out while Jong-Du panics and runs away after having gotten her back to consciousness. From out of the blue Jong-Du receives a phone call. It is Gong-Ju who calls him and she wants to meet. This brings them through an unusual, yet tender love affair with respect, care, and affection where the embroidery on the wall comes into play.

The performances by Kyung-gu Sol and Moon So-ri are astounding, as they help elevate the film to the heartrending experience that it provides. This is the second time these two actors have worked together, as they both were in the terrific Peppermint Candy (2000). Here in Oasis they seem very comfortable with one another and this is essential for them to be able to pull off such terrific performances. Both give very different visualizations of their characters and they do so convincingly well.

Chang-Dong Lee depicts a loving tale through some amazing scenes where he breaks the boundaries between what is real and fantasy. It is in these fantasy scenes where the audience will find themselves bewildered to what is truly happening, but it must be magical happiness that is being expressed. The camera also reveals some stunning realism where the interaction between Gong-Ju and Jong-Du displays both their difficulties and how they cope with their difficulties in society. Through the combination of fantasy and realism Chang-Dong Lee expresses a genuine concern about the issue at hand, which suggests that all people have the right to love and feel loved.

An introspective view of the physically and mentally disabled.......2005-07-08

The night air was crisp. A seemingly slightly retarded Korean man (well, mentally slow at least) offered to do a magic trick for his female companion who suffered from a lifetime affliction of cerebral palsy. Instead, she stuttered with her arms arhythmically jerking out of sequence to her words and her lazy eye wandering to the window, "Don't.... go.. I want.... you..... to sleep with me. Don't you know..... what it means..... when a woman..... asks a man..... to sleep...... with her?"

Then after removing clothes the two began to make love.

"Is this.. where you..? No, that's not it.."

She made random noises as her eyes again turned different directions, her arms were flailing.

"If anyone needs to use the bathroom after the sex scene it's upstairs, first door to the right." Jill announced.

I looked away from the projection and laughed.

The most interesting aspect of the movie was that the disabled female character suddenly normalized at points and in fantasy sequences the inner happiness of the two lovers was made apparent by removing the superficialities of their disabilities. It was excellent acting on her part and a brilliant way to project what the writer must have intended.

An inherent flaw of oriental (and perhaps most) societies in which strict societal conformity is demanded is also made very apparent.

The sad ending was perhaps unnecessary but was probably placed there to stress the overall sadness of their lives.

I enjoyed the movie, it inspired a lot of thought within me and I believe it to be a paramount film.

Powerful Human Story, Surprising Romance.......2005-05-09

The acting especially by the leads (Moon So-ri and Sol Kyung-gu) was fantastic; Moon's performance convinced me she was truly disabled. Also, the pace felt faster than it actually was. Beautiful cinematography, like so many Korean films.

I saw this in Seoul when it opened, with two native Korean friends who also loved it.

While I remain a little ambivalent about how so many acclaimed Korean dramas portray rape, this film was able to make the protagonists' disabilities secondary to the plot and not the focus. Sometimes difficult to watch, this movie wouldn't have been made in Hollywood, and it's definitely worth watching.

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