Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...

...and Spring

A Movie Review
Title: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
Directed by: Ki-duk Kim
Writing credit: Ki-duk Kim

I have been wanting to see this movie for awhile. Thanks to the Manila International Film Festival, I finally had the opportunity to do so.

So, what was the movie all about? The movie is about the story of a young monk in the care of an older, seasoned, monk. The movie shows the transformation of both the young one and the elder one as they go through life. Each phase is represented by each season. It stars in Spring and comes in full circle in the coming Spring. But in my opinion, the movie might as well be about Buddhism and its view towards life in general.

If I could say one thing about this movie, is that it is all about symbols. Each season symbolized each phase of the young monk's life. And each season is symbolized by a different animal. Spring is symbolized by a dog. Summer is symbolized by a rooster. Fall is symbolized by a cat. Winter is symbolized by a snake. And finally, the full circle, the coming Spring is symbolized by a turtle. Each season is started by a door opening to show the floating temple in the middle of the lake where most of scenes in the movie took place. I have a feeling that 'doors' in this movie also represent something relating to Bhuddism.

Well, I don't know much about Buddhism, but I know that this is the central theme of the whole movie. And since I don't know much about Buddhism, I don't know much about how to explain the symbols in this movie. But I know (or I have a strong hunch) that they represents the basic principles of life and its cycle.

The story unfolds in quite a peaceful pace. It took its time to reveal everything, being quite deliberate and all, and it does so using very minimal dialogue. The phrase 'A picture is worth a thousand words' is true for this movie. Dialogue is minimal (I think it represents only about 25% of the movie) and the story is told by the scenes unfolding throughout the storyline. Since symbols and scenes are the main theme of this movie, the cinematography was top notch. The lake in the middle of the mountain range, the floating temple, the boat, the door opening to the lake where the floating temple is, the 300-year-old tree, they're all taken from an angle that shows good workmanship in cinematography. And they all tell a story, a story whose interpretation is left to the viewers' minds and hearts.

This movie is like a moving painting, a peacefully-paced moving painting. And 'beautiful' is the only word I could come up with. I won't go deep into the interpretation of the story and the symbols inside this movie, since I think that is up to the viewers on how to interpret it. And I think that is what the director wants in the first place. A movie that will leave you dazed and think deeply on life. That's another way of my saying: 'highly recommended'.

Bits and pieces: even though there's a door to the lake, there's no wall whatsoever separating the lake from the outside world. People could just walk over to the lake without going through the door, but they still had to go through the door. It's the same also for the rooms inside the floating temple. There was no wall separating the bedroom from the praying room, but there was still a door. And the old monk always came in and went out the bedroom through the door. I guess this is also part of the movie's many symbolizations.