Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (Korean)

Movie Review

The greatest movies on earth, which are few and far in between, are not the ones that provide solutions to issues, but the ones that provide questions. This is one such movie.

The questions in this movie are not the type of questions you normally ask in the classroom or in the political field. They are very deeply spiritual questions regarding life on earth. As you observe in the title, SSFW&S is pretty much about the cycle of life and seasons. 

                                                         The setting in this movie is just a Buddhist temple floating on a lake in a deep forest. This simplistic setting is so perfect you would find it hard to believe that it is actually artificially constructed.  It is beautifully shot and it does not, in any way, affect the scope or the importance of the story. Rather, it complements the story dynamically and naturally, especially when the seasons change.  

  

As with the simple setting and simple story, there are very simple characters. There are also few characters (9 in total). All of them play pivotal roles that shape the flow of the story. Of these, two affect the flow more - an old monk and his student. While the old monk is played by one actor, the student is played by 4 actors, each representing the different maturity levels - a young boy, a young adult and mature adults in 30s and 40s. The last one was played by the director himself, Kim Ki-duk.

Speaking of the director (also writer), if you observe the movie closely, you will find that it is vision of only one person, of only one visionary artist. In fact, all his movies, before and after this movie, follow his visions, thus making him one of the few idiosyncratic filmmakers around.  When asked the reason for making the movies the way he does, he said

I see something which I do not understand and then I make a film in order to comprehend it.

In this movie, I don't know what he saw, I don't know what he comprehended from making this movie. But I know this, I got questions. And just like in all of his movies, they were no explicit answers.



For those who have not seen the movie, do NOT click here:

1. Why does there exist two doors with no wall around it inside the temple?
2. Why in some scenes does the two monks pass to the center of the room through the door when there is no particular need especially with an empty wall around it?
3. Why does there exist a gate to the temple here again with no wall around it?
4. What kind of sickness was the young woman having?
5. Why did the young man, when leaving the old monk, take the Buddha statue along with him?
6. Did the student ,at last stage of his life as a monk, tie the stones to the animals or did they do it mystically?
7. Why did the woman who brought the baby to the temple keep her face hidden?

These are the questions I have asked myself, though I am sure there are others waiting to be found.

Overall, watching the movie was a deeply enriching experience - one I wouldn't mind watching time and again.  In fact , almost all of the critics would agree with me ( a cumulative cool 95% at RottenTomatoes!).

But like one of the reviewers said, "As the Buddhists might have said, you have to experience it first-hand, reading about it is not enough." And I have made you read too much already. Before I leave, here is one trailer for your viewing pleasure.