Written & Directed by Kim-Ki-Duk
Starring Su Oh-yeong, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Jong-ho, Ha Yeo-jin and Kim Ki-Duk
Spring, Summer, Fall Winter and Spring is one of the most hauntingly beautiful films I have encountered in recent years. I haven't seen any of Ki-Duk's other films, but I do feel that this is his most popular film outside his country. At least in India, he seems to have some sort of a cult following among cinephiles. From what I have read about him, this film seems to be a drastic change in style from the director's previous works.
The film is set in a Buddhist monastery floating atop a lake, separated from the 'world of men' as the senior monk calls it, and has to do with his relationship with his disciple through various stages of the young monk's life. The film is neatly divided into five chapters, each of them titled after each season, as the film's title indicates. In each of these chapters, the young monk has a hard lesson to learn.
The first chapter (Spring) shows a boy monk who finds delight in tying animals to a stone, affecting their mobility. The senior monk sees this and plays a small trick to make the boy aware of his sadistic tendencies. In the second chapter (Summer), we jump forward in time, where the boy monk has grown into an adolescent and when a woman brings her your daughter to the senior monk to revive her from her state of depression, the adolescent monk is fascinated with her. The following series of events leads to the young monk leaving the monastery.
In chapter three (Fall), several years have gone by again, and the young monk, who left the monastery when he was an adolescent, has now returned as a 30-year old man, disillusioned by the ways of the world and convicted for a grievous crime. It is not long before the police arrive at the monastery in his trail. But before they can take him away, the convict has to finish a task assigned to him by the senior monk. Once the task is finished and the police leave with the monk, the senior monk, realising his time has come to leave the world, burns himself in a suicide ritual.
In Chapter Four (Winter), the monk, who was last seen deported by the police, is back at the now desolate monastery, which now stands on top of a layer of ice. He revives the monastery, which has been desolate for several years and engages himself in spiritual practices. One day a woman visits him with a child in her arms. She abandons the child at the monastery and while leaving, the ice cracks and she drowns in the ice-cold water. Chapter five begins with Spring, where the monk is seen tutoring the abandoned boy. The cycle has begun all over again.
The film makes sparse use of dialogue, the visuals telling us much of the story. Coming to visuals, the camerawork in the film is quite austere, very much in keeping with the contemplative spirit of the story. Ki-Duk is able to convey the story through minimal camera movement; the film gains much of its power from its seamless transition from shot-to-shot. The music in the film is for the most part Western, which a New York Times reviewer wrote was better suited to the sinking of the Titanic than to this fable. But since it is used with restraint, it is not that off-putting as it might have been.
Starring Su Oh-yeong, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Jong-ho, Ha Yeo-jin and Kim Ki-Duk
The film is set in a Buddhist monastery floating atop a lake, separated from the 'world of men' as the senior monk calls it, and has to do with his relationship with his disciple through various stages of the young monk's life. The film is neatly divided into five chapters, each of them titled after each season, as the film's title indicates. In each of these chapters, the young monk has a hard lesson to learn.
The first chapter (Spring) shows a boy monk who finds delight in tying animals to a stone, affecting their mobility. The senior monk sees this and plays a small trick to make the boy aware of his sadistic tendencies. In the second chapter (Summer), we jump forward in time, where the boy monk has grown into an adolescent and when a woman brings her your daughter to the senior monk to revive her from her state of depression, the adolescent monk is fascinated with her. The following series of events leads to the young monk leaving the monastery.
In chapter three (Fall), several years have gone by again, and the young monk, who left the monastery when he was an adolescent, has now returned as a 30-year old man, disillusioned by the ways of the world and convicted for a grievous crime. It is not long before the police arrive at the monastery in his trail. But before they can take him away, the convict has to finish a task assigned to him by the senior monk. Once the task is finished and the police leave with the monk, the senior monk, realising his time has come to leave the world, burns himself in a suicide ritual.
In Chapter Four (Winter), the monk, who was last seen deported by the police, is back at the now desolate monastery, which now stands on top of a layer of ice. He revives the monastery, which has been desolate for several years and engages himself in spiritual practices. One day a woman visits him with a child in her arms. She abandons the child at the monastery and while leaving, the ice cracks and she drowns in the ice-cold water. Chapter five begins with Spring, where the monk is seen tutoring the abandoned boy. The cycle has begun all over again.
The film makes sparse use of dialogue, the visuals telling us much of the story. Coming to visuals, the camerawork in the film is quite austere, very much in keeping with the contemplative spirit of the story. Ki-Duk is able to convey the story through minimal camera movement; the film gains much of its power from its seamless transition from shot-to-shot. The music in the film is for the most part Western, which a New York Times reviewer wrote was better suited to the sinking of the Titanic than to this fable. But since it is used with restraint, it is not that off-putting as it might have been.
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