Judging by the BBFC's scissor work on Kim Ki-Duk's savage study of dangerous obsession, it's fine for filmmakers to depict the insertion of sharp metal implements into a woman's labia, but heaven help them if they harm a fish.
Still, even without the offending piscine abuse, The Isle loses little of its power to shock - although horror is the last thing suggested by the opening lyrical lakescape, with pastel-shaded shacks bobbing placidly on the misty water.
Once mute warden-cum-hooker Suh Jung develops a passion for fugitive Kim Yoosuck, however, a barrage of rape, murder and mutilation is unleashed that will make even the most hardened gore fans blanch. Sadly, though, all this arthouse exploitation fails to reveal as much about contemporary Korea as, say, Texas Chainsaw did about the States.