La Belle (Mi in) [2000] • South Korea

You have to like films about crazy, beautiful, young, lovable, destructive women and the men who become poetically addicted to them and you have to see this film as surrealism or it doesn't work. Or, you have to enjoy watching a couple of very attractive people get naked, make love, fight, kiss and make up. Either way.

This is not a typical soft-core flick. It's a fleshy art movie with nice production values and good lighting. Tinkling piano too. All in good taste. Although there is a lot of flesh, there's a lot of story too and it's not just inserted as filler. The film is based on the director's own novel, Body, and it explores the addiction of flesh, how to feed and conquer it, and what may come after it. Since it's an art film, as well as a fine piece of erotica, it ends tragically instead of happily but that keeps it in line with all that precedes it.

★★★★