Too much of everything

the audience applauded

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Since this film is on Netflix right now (as of November 2015), and I'm admittedly a little too enthusiastic about violent films, I decided to give this one a whirl a few days ago, and despite the passage of time, every image is still fresh in my mind.This film, for those who are unfamiliar, depicts a mother carrying out a rather extreme act of revenge upon her cheating husband, but hurting the one thing they both love-- their son. After a failed attempt at castrating her husband, she goes into their son's bedroom and castrates him instead, swallowing his penis in order to ensure that it won't be easily reattached. She departs in a grief-stricken haze, leaving the film's events to spiral even further out of control in her absence.Moebius, as many previous reviewers have mentioned, is completely void of dialogue, and though some might consider this to be off- putting or boring, it seems to make the film even more compelling-- besides, there are more than enough cries of pain to keep the film from being completely silent.Since I have heard and read about Kim Ki-duk's less-than-stellar treatment of women and animals in his films, I was a little concerned going into this film, as I'm sure other viewers will be, as well. If my memory serves me, this film, unlike other features such as The Isle (2000), is free of scenes depicting cruelty to animals (which I was glad of, considering that they added nothing to the plot). However, the film still seems to carry tinges of misogyny, containing a rather upsetting rape scene just as many of Kim's previous films do. The female characters, however, do seem to be better fleshed-out than in The Isle, which at the moment is the only other Kim Ki-duk film I have seen, so we can at least assume that positive progress has been made in the last few years. However, I really would have liked to have seen more character development particularly in the case of the Mother, and particularly character development that didn't revolve around the men in the film (but then, I suppose it would be hard for a film with no dialogue to pass the Bechdel test). What carried this ambitious and slightly scattered film was definitely the actors. The accomplishments of the actors, to be able to convey such emotion without the crutch a text provides is amazing. Despite the treatment of her characters being questionable, Lee Eun-woo's performance as both the Mother and the Mistress was nuanced and forceful at the right times, and her gift for nonverbal communication carried what could have otherwise been an utterly nonsensical film, making it almost believable.All in all, though it feels a little obvious to me, I will say it anyway-- the squeamish should avoid this film, especially if genital mutilation and self-harm of any kind are especially triggering for you (the latter is shown more graphically than the former, and I found these scenes in particular to be upsetting). Even if you have a stronger stomach, proceed with caution, but if you feel you can handle it, Moebius may prove to be a very rewarding cinematic experience.

Have you ever watched a film that brings your endurance to explicit (even sick!) blood and sex violence to its very limit while at the same time makes you laugh and depicts with smart (yet explicit!) cleverness one of the basic essentials of Buddhism?... No, I'm not trying to bring opposite worlds together, but Kim Ki-Duk did, in his film Moebius.A truly masterpiece of cinema in its pure essence, compelling and with an stunning economy of resources: few settings, few actors, even the two female roles are played by the same actress (Eun-woo Lee) in an outstanding performance. Moebius tells a story with deep metaphysical symbolism using just images (there is no dialogs) and focusing exclusively and with dazzling clarity on the points important for the story and its meaning, namely the search for physical pleasure concomitant to the nature of every human being, and the main protagonist of this: a part of the male anatomy known as "penis".Only after the last scene, when the young protagonist bows before Buddha, one can understand the whole meaning of the film, every piece fits then perfectly in the puzzle (emotional puzzle, we are not talking about crime and mystery here). Then we understand that pleasure (the main, maybe the only important one: sexual pleasure) comes always at a price in this world; pleasure involves pain one way or another. Not once in the film pleasure brings any kind of satisfaction or happiness, instead it causes distress, sorrow, guilt, pain, immediate or in the long term; many of the scenes in the film show the attainment of pleasure directly through pain, and with more pain as a consequence. CAVEAT - SPOILER IN THIS LAST PARAGRAPHBut then, in the end, the young protagonist frees himself from this tie, through the most direct way: castration (well, there are actually several of these throughout the film, so WARNING for sensitive viewers!), and later, bowing before Buddha, he does something he had not done even once during the film: he SMILES, as Buddha did. He is released now from human passions, no longer slave of his desires, no longer subject to the inescapable search for pleasure of the physical body. He is now FREE

If you want safe go elsewhere. Anything approaching a normal film American family drama go elsewhere. If you want anything that isn't offensive go elsewhere.The easiest and least exploitative way to explain the plot is to say a couple is having martial difficulties which explodes and ends up crippling the son. Where the film goes from there is the film.(Spoilers follow)Actually where the film goes from there involves castration,rape,incest, masochism ,violence, murder, and riffs on the legendary films PERCY and PERCY's PROGRESS. There are more twists and turns than any sane mind would make. Oh and did I mention there is no dialog in the entire film?How is it?I have no idea. Horrifying? Silly? Strange? I was staring at the screen in disbelief even while I was laughing at the proceedings. Its a whacked out mix of things that kind of almost works and kind of almost doesn't. Its a bold attempt at doing something.I don't think its successful- but it is interesting in a kind of road accident sort of a way.Should you see it?If you like the real off beat and don't mind disturbing things give it ago. On the other hand if you're sensitive or easily offended stay away.

I have been a Kim Ki- Duk fan ever since I saw Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter....and Spring. And I tend to gauge all his subsequent works with this masterpiece. and Moebius which created quite a ruckus when it was screened in this part of the world (as part of the International film festival of Kerala, 2013) is definitely not the best work of Kim Ki- duk. the director himself was a special invitee...but the theme of the movie proved to be too gruesome for some viewers. castration and its aftermath..a mother who should be confined to an asylum are the topics that this movie covers. if one were to tell the story - the oral description would be too horrible....but i can tell you the visual depiction is not as horrendous. This has been hailed as a black comedy....but I feel that the old TV movie Attack of the 5ft. 2 women starring Julie Brown was much better as a comedy. I remember laughing my guts out while seeing that movie. so do yourself a favour- go with Julie Brown rather than Kim Ki- duk as far as this topic is concerned.