An old monk and his
protégé experience life in a monastery that floats in the middle of a
picturesque lake. In spite of, or perhaps due to their seclusion, they
learn lessons that illustrate the cycle of life.
CRITIQUE
There are few
titles quite as literal as this. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… And
Spring is a journey through the seasons which Writer, Director Kim
Ki-Duk uses to represent chapters in life. Each section of the film
opens with a title, corresponding to a particular season and facet of
life. The film opens in Spring with an old monk (Oh Young-Soo) and his
apprentice (Kim Jong-Ho). The boy experiments with life exploring his
surroundings, looking up to his master, and tormenting animals. The
old monk, as monks tend to do, wisely and patiently guides and teaches
the boy with a mystical sense of knowledge and understanding.
Kim Ki-Duk makes
his point clear early on in the film, each season or chapter is
typically separated by ten years and it becomes obvious that the film
is an exploration in one human’s life. Ki-Duk uses Spring as bookends
that illustrate how lives are interconnected and how all of us as
humans are related to each other. It is a simple sentiment, one that
has certainly been explored before, but perhaps not quite in this
manner. Ki-Duk is very straight forward; there are no grand flourishes
or embellishments. The plot of the film includes violent crimes, death
and arrests, however Ki-Duk is not interested in these, he is
interested in life and nature and interconnectedness.
The strength of the
film lies in its cinematography and location. The lake is beautiful
and serene, cradled by majestic mountains, the still water is calming,
so calming in fact that it cools the senses of the audience. Ki-Duk’s
camera manipulates nature, not through special effects, but through
framing, and turns the monastery and its surroundings into a
character.
The acting, much
like the film is plain and simple, the actors let the surroundings
take shape and guide them. Oh Young-Soo as the old monk is wise beyond
his years; he is an authoritative figure without overpowering the
beautiful imagery. Kim Ki-Duk makes an appearance as the monk in his
adult phase, in which the monk begins to come to terms with himself
and his place in the universe, and much like the old monk, he seems to
embrace the nature that surrounds him. The other actors who portray
the monk in various phases of life need only contend with one emotion.
Kim Young-Min is the enraged young-adult monk, Seo Jae-Kyung is the
lustful boy monk, and Kim Jong-Ho is the inquisitive child monk. Each
captures the essence of the monk at their particular point in life and
then passes the baton on to the next until Kim Ki-Duk blends them all
together into the man the monk has become.
The monk repeatedly
ventures beyond the placid waters that surround the monastery only to
come back with a hard-learned life-lesson. When the monk returns to
the monastery he is visibly changed, the audience can only imagine
what he has gone through, and in order to connect to the character we
must look into ourselves to remember similar experiences that we may
have shared. In this way the audience connects themselves to the film
and Ki-Duk’s message of interconnectedness expands beyond the plot of
the film.
I was not impressed
after my initial viewing of the film. The imagery was beautiful, but
the story lacked drive. It wasn’t until I sat down to write this
review and really thought back through the film that I found little
gems that spoke to me. I’m including this note because this is a film
that merits thought and reflection. It is not necessarily meant to
entertain, it is intended to encourage thought and it succeeds in
doing so.
THE VIDEO
Spring, Summer,
Fall, Winter… and Spring
is presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. As I said before, the
images are beautiful; however the colors did not seem very bright. The
colors seem to jump out in the trailer, while in the film they were
muted.
THE AUDIO
Spring, Summer,
Fall, Winter… and Spring
is presented in Dolby Digital in Korean with options for English or
French subtitles. The audio is fine, however this film relies on its
images, there are long stretches of time when there is no dialogue,
and the music usually serves as a backdrop to the imagery on the
screen.
THE EXTRAS
There are no
extras, just some trailers for independent films, including one
for Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring.
FINAL THOUGHT
This is an
interesting film that leaves the viewer with a lot to think about.
However if a little time is invested in the film it is worthwhile. The
lack of any extra features makes this a rental.
