Korean writer-director Lee Chang-dong has created one hell of an uncomfortable viewing experience with Oasis, the strange love story of naïve ex-con Jong-du (Sol Kyung-gu) and cerebral palsy-afflicted Gong-ju (Moon So-ri). Far from the cuddly, uplifting portrait of the disabled found in most Hollywood films, Oasis is a dark, off-putting film that offers spare insights but may not be worth the effort it takes to view it.
After serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter, Jong-du returns to society without social skills and to a family who tell him they were better off when he was out of the way. In an ill-advised trip to apologize to the family of the man he killed in a hit-and-run accident, Jong-du discovers Gong-ju, the man's daughter, and thus begins one of the more bizarre courtships in cinematic history.
To say that Oasis is hard to watch would be a massive understatement, especially when Jong-du begins his romance of Gong-ju with an attempted rape, or when he brings her unannounced to a family dinner, or when, later, the couple has consensual sex in one of the least sexy scenes I've ever witnessed on screen. Oasis is full of these moments, and while Lee makes it clear that the main characters have developed a true bond despite their handicaps, he never allows the audience to feel anything but discomfort.