''Samaritan Girl'' () is a 2004 South Korean film written and directed by

Kim Ki-duk Kim Ki-duk ( ; 20 December 196011 December 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic Art film, art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit ...

Synopsis

Yeo-jin and Jae-yeong are two teenage girls who are trying to earn money for a trip to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. To reach this end, Jae-yeong is prostituting herself while Yeo-jin acts as her pimp, setting her up with the clients and staying on guard for the police. Things take a turn for the worse when Yeo-jin gets distracted from her duty and the police raid the motel where Jae-yeong is meeting with a client. To avoid getting caught, Jae-yeong jumps out of a window, fatally injuring herself. After Jae-yeong's death, Yeo-jin blames herself and to ease her own conscience, sets to return all of the money they earned to the clients while sleeping with them herself. Eventually Yeo-jin's father, a policeman, is devastated when he discovers what she is doing. He starts following her discreetly and confronts her clients with increasingly violent results. Finally, he ends up brutally killing a client. For the rest of its duration, the movie follows the father and daughter on a short trip to the countryside, where they both sense something is wrong with the other, but are unable to confront each other directly. In the end, the law catches up with the father, who hopes to have done enough to prepare Yeo-jin for her life without him.

Cast

Kwak Ji-min Kwak Ji-min (; born February 13, 1985), birth name Kwak Sun-hee (), is a South Korean actress. She is best known overseas for her leading role in the Kim Ki-duk film '' Samaritan Girl'', for which she won Best New Actress at the 2004 Busan Film C ...

- Yeo-jin *

Han Yeo-reum Han Yeo-reum () is a South Korean actress. Filmography Film * ''Sex Volunteer: Open Secret 1st Story'' (2010) * ''Crazy Waiting'' (2008) * ''Fantastic Parasuicides'' (2007) * '' The Bow'' (2005) * '' Samaritan Girl'' (2004) TV series *' ...

(credited as Seo Min-jeong) - Jae-yeong * Lee Eol - Yeong-ki, Yeo-jin's father

Reception

As with other films by

, ''Samaritan Girl'' was not a box office success in its home country, but was better received overseas. After it won the Silver Bear, the second place award at the 2004

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, it became a sought-after film for other international film festivals.

References

External links and references

* * {{Authority control 2004 films 2004 drama films Films directed by Kim Ki-duk South Korean independent films 2000s Korean-language films South Korean drama films Films about prostitution in South Korea 2000s South Korean films South Korean LGBTQ-related films 2004 LGBTQ-related films 2000s LGBTQ-related drama films