Oasis
Lifesize Entertainment | Release Date: May 7, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
An unforgettable experience from yet another filmmaker who is making South Korean cinema one of the most vibrant of any emerging on the international scene. Read full review
90
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Oasis is utterly beguiling because Lee, like many other percipient Asian filmmakers, is simply more attentive to his characters' emotional tumult than the audience's. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyJohn Powers
At once a romantic melodrama, a sharp social comedy and a fierce political commentary on Korean society's cruelty to social outcasts. It's also a triumph of artistic indirection: Not a single scene plays out the way you expect. This is a film that gives humanism back its good name. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Director Lee Chang-Dong has boldly crafted a challenge rarely found on film. But if you choose to meet it, you'll be rewarded with one of the most original, indelible romances in recent memory. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Oasis is that rare miraculous whirlwind romance that moves from attempted rape to reverence without kicking up a lot of dust. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
An eloquent expression of both unorthodox romance and bitter disillusionment with the hypocritical institutions of family and society. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The remarkable if overlong Korean film Oasis strips away much of the sentimentality and goody-two-shoes attitudes that the movies traditionally display toward disabled people. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
In a sense, Oasis is an unabashed tearjerker, but Lee keeps knocking the melodrama off-balance, making all the big emotional payoffs a little discomforting, because they're not that far removed from something really disturbing. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
You'll have to look long and hard to find a performance as emotionally raw as that of Moon So-ri in the startling South Korean love story Oasis. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
In the 2002 South Korean film Oasis, one can appreciate one of Asia's best directors (Lee Chang-dong) and one of the region's best actresses (Moon So-ri). Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A brave film in the way it shows two people who find any relationship almost impossible, and yet find a way to make theirs work. The problems with the film come because it overstays its welcome. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderMartin Rubin
Skating fearlessly on the edge of tastelessness and sentimentality, Oasis is another strong, provocative film by Lee Chang-dong. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Although overlong and diffuse, Oasis, written and directed by Lee Chang-dong, boasts many powerful moments. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The combination of Lee's discomforting subject matter and distancing style -- calculating artlessness punctuated by occasional flights of lyrical fantasy -- makes this slow-moving drama a challenge that doesn't seem entirely worth the effort. Read full review
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