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Simply A Masterpiece

How sad is this?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The overall idea of the film is beautiful, but you can find that out in five minutes by reading a summary of what happens. Not worth an 1 hr 45 minutes of your life. Just read a summary and you'll get the same thing out of it. The cinematography is not really very beautiful (which would maybe be a reason to watch the film) and it moves incredibly slowly.

The movie "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" directed by a vanguard Korean director Kim Ki Duk is a pure illustration and the reading of the Buddhist dharma, core Buddhist teachings. The work can be torn apart into separate pieces of symbolism, yet seen as a complete cyclic work of art. Through the cyclicality of the nature and the life of one person the director could interpret basic Buddhist concept in a lens of cultural Korean Buddhism and the mystical premises which should not be taken presisely. Unlike Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" the cyclicality as an essential part of the Buddhist dharma has been shown from a slightly different perspective. The driving force for samsara has not only been the deed of one person, as we have partially observed from Uncle Boonmee, Kim Ki Duk illustrated cyclicality in all aspects of the world: from the rotation of day and night, change in seasons to the evolution of human emotions and senses to the change in generations. Even the title of the movie cyclical, as the Buddhist teachings suggest that time is not linear rather cyclical. Here the viewer comes back to the point zero at the end of the movie as well. It has been illustrated not only through the return to the spring season, which can be seen as the point of rebirth: we see the monk with the little boy both in the beginning and in the end. Other seasons can also be seen as other processes of this cycle: summer is birth, fall is life and winter is death. They can be in different levels at the same time: the development of nature, life of the old monk and life of a little boy. Even though the movie represents the small sangha, the monastic community, everything depicted by the director should not be taken literary, because it involves mystery, which is not explained by the movie. For example, even small details of the monastic life have not been shown and can raise some question: for example, the sources of food they have used to live. Another controversial moment in the movie is the one when the little boy has arrived on another shore and played with fish, frog and snake (which has been shown for the didactic reasons, as the viewer gets to see later), the old monk has also somehow arrived at that side of the shore, possibly just walking on the water. Leaving this questions without the answer, the director almost points out on the fact that even though the representation of the Buddhist livelihood seems more or less accurate, it should not be taken without a doubt. Despite this, Kim Ki Duk masterfully showed 3 Jewels on Buddhism: the Buddha, who has been depicted several times throughout the movie, Sangha, monastic community, and the Dharma, Buddhist core teachings. Even the Dukha, the suffering, which is the main driving force of Samsara, has been shown not only through different types and degrees of physical pain, but also through the moral dissatisfaction and psychological suffering: "Didn't you know beforehand how the world of men is? Sometimes we have to let go of the things we like. What you like, others will also like," - as the old monk commented after the younger one's return to the temple.Even though the movie includes a lot of controversial moments, it could masterly introduce to the viewer core concepts and teaching of Buddhist community, however, the viewer should take responsibility to filter and polish the information.

Directed by Kim Ki-duk, and had a lot of positive reviews around the world. This movie tells the story of a person by showing the four seasons of his life which has changed him and taught the philosophy of the Buddhism from his childhood to the older ages. Throughout his life, the Master at the temple was his guide and influenced him. From the start of the movie, an everyday routine of Buddhist monks are shown. Throughout the film, the older master is a representation of a true Buddhist monk, whose views of the world differs from the boy's. He tries to teach the boy through the lesson about pain and guilt, cruel consequences of desire, releasing the anger and about reaching inner peace, but already without being beside. At the end, we can see that the little boy in the past became a master and from spring the cycle begins again with another little apprentice. Through this cycle, I understood that being a person with inner peace is not inborn, but reachable. I want to talk about one interesting thing in this movie. The door which opens the view to the floating monastery, and another two doors in it are actually do not serve as simple doors continued with walls. They are standing alone and anyone could just walk around them. But, mostly people use them as actual doors that help us to enter certain place. Even in the monastery, people sleep behind the doors, open them to look at someone. In my point of view, walking through the door is an established tradition, while breaking this rule is going on a string of desire. I think this symbolizes the teenager, who made a decision in the wake of hormones, and had unexpected consequences. I think the camerawork of this movie should be mentioned. Watching this movie was pleasure because of soft transitions between scenes and stable shooting. Also, cameraman showed the beautiful nature of that forest surrounding the lake and hills. When picture is enjoyable, perception of the movie is always better. The quality of the sound was also good, though the film was shot in 2003. However, the musical accompaniment was not rich. Sometimes, the Buddhist music (?) or sounds come out, but basically they focused on life sounds. Ki-duk said of the film: "I intended to portray the joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure of our lives through four seasons and through the life of a monk who lives in a temple on Jusan Pond surrounded only by nature." To sum up, I would like to say that this movie by Kim Ki-duk is very touching and realistic. All these teachings give an opportunity to all people to get to know with Buddhist religious traditions, philosophy and life of the monks. The story tells us that every monk become himself and reaches inner peace through experiencing and realizing the importance of it. But I think this can be related to anyone, despite the religion, nationality and gender.

Very little in the world of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring is physically attached to one another, yet everything feels connected; physically, spiritually, narratively. The doors insinuating rooms inside the tiny monastery where we lay our scene stand alone, unattached to walls. The small row boat, providing the only connection between the outside world and the monastery is almost never festooned to its moorings. For that matter, neither is the temple itself which gently glides across the lake like it were a pontoon. Nothing is attached, yet everything is connected, tranquil and cyclical.The story is told in simple, largely visual terms; an elderly Monk (Yeong-su Oh), is rearing a small child (Jae-kyeong Seo) with him as his master in an isolated monastery surrounded on all sides by a man made lake. As the seasons pass the boy grows into a young man (Young-min Kim), then a troubled adult (Ki-duk Kim), with each chapter of his life reflecting in the seasons as they pass. We witness as the capriciousness of spring changes the boy into a flirtatious teenager by summer; made all the more apparent by the arrival of a young girl (Yeo-jin Ha) who comes to the temple in search of restoration. His desire for the girl turns to lust, desire then anger, followed by a long absence in fall before winter becomes a pilgrimage of contrition. All the while, the elderly Monk looks on like a spirit as his protégé succumbs to what is natural.What little is spoken throughout, everything people do speak in Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring is given an incontrovertible weight. Yet there's never a lecture or conflict made verbal disquisition. Much of the conflict, characterization and morality is expounded through visual metaphor complimented by the fantastic natural splendor that surrounds our protagonists. What results is a film with the conciseness of a fable without trenchant proselytizing. The elderly Monk mirrors that sentiment, using a gentle hand to guide his young apprentice towards the lessons he needs to learn. The world then bends to the magnanimous will of the story, using animals as larger symbols of the young man's journey.What results is a story lush with beauty and serenity awash in the full spectrum of human experience. With a very small cast, director Ki- duk Kim unravels the central tenants of Buddhism and gingerly brays them into contemporary society. It results in colors and emotional shades hereto unseen by anything ever committed to celluloid apart from perhaps the final works of Ingmar Bergman. The comparison is completed with the ponderous rhythms of changing seasons and the slowly changing perspectives of the Monks.Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring makes the short list for most beautiful film in human history, capitalizing on the natural beauty that surrounds the water bound temple. Furthermore it is an innately human parable about the cyclical nature of man and the hidden beauty therein. Contemplative yet truly mesmerizing, Spring, Summer, Fall Winter...and Spring is a revelatory triumph. Those looking for the naturalistic beauty of a Terrence Malick film bending to the meditative majesty of eastern philosophies should pick up Ki-duk Kim's contemporary classic right away.