“Oasis” Appeals to Twenty Something

“Oasis (directed by Lee Chang-dong)” is doing well in the box office. “Oasis,” a love story between an ex-convict and a disabled woman with cerebral palsy, ranked second in the box office for two weeks in a row, luring as many as 39,500 moviegoers. It topped the seat-occupation ranking at 65% which means theaters playing “Oasis” recorded fewer empty seats than others.

Most movies suffer about a 20% drop in ticket sales in their second week, but the sad love story suffered a 14% drop. “Many come to see either “Minority Report” or “Oasis” during weekdays,” said officials from movie cinemas.

Its better-than-expected performance came with the movie’s appeal to young viewers in their 20s. Late night on August 26, City Cinema, a movie theater located at the center of Gangnam, was filled with young people in their 20s who came to see “Oasis.” Some may think that it is too heavy for the fun-loving young people in Gangnam. But they were laughing a lot until the movie began to approach a tragic end in the latter part.

“I initially thought it was a rather gloomy movie, but it’s fun to watch and catchy,” said Kim Ji-won, a 26-year-old woman working for a firm. When asked to describe the movie, she said, “A kind of love I’ve never been.”

What’s interesting is that there is a telling difference in audience responses about “Oasis” and director Lee’s earlier hit “Peppermint Candy.” While the latter was mostly loved by people in their thirty who saw the movie as gloomy or a message to the society, the latest one, a romantic movie by director’s definition, is garnering support from younger people in their 20s who find the love story appealing.

“We plan a long run at downtown cinemas rather than smaller ones located on the outskirts of Seoul,” said Gang Gyung-ho, manager at CJ entertainment, distributor of the movie.

Hee-Kyung Kim susanna@donga.com