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| Spring,
Summer, Fall, Winter…AND SPRING
Directed By: Ki-duk
Kim Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| A young boy lives in a small floating temple on a beautiful lake, together with an elderly master who teaches him the ways of the Buddha. Years later the boy, now a young man, experiences his sexual awakening with a girl who has come to the temple to be healed by the master. The youth runs away to the outside world but his lust turns his life into hell, so he returns to the lake temple to find spiritual enlightenment.[TRAILER] “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring” is a quiet, contemplative fable about the stages of a person’s life, told with a Buddhist spin. However, while there are five seasons, and five distinct segments, each building around themes of innocence, lust, rage, enlightenment and rebirth, I really saw the story as one of three stages. In the first, a child is indifferent to the consequences of his actions. The world is his playground, and he does not think twice. In the second, a child loses sight of the world as he becomes consumed by personal pleasure and anger. And in the third, he sees the world for the very first time as it truly is. His playground has been replaced by a sanctuary, and he seeks to redeem himself for first taking it for granted and later ignoring it in selfishness. No doubt you will have a different take on the film. I can imagine some viewers focusing more intently on the spiritual nature of the landscape and surroundings. I can also imagine some who will become bored with the patient camerawork, lack of dialogue and introspective lessons. I know next to nothing about Buddhist teachings, and accordingly cannot judge whether this follows the religious mindset faithfully. Some have criticized the film’s depiction of Buddhism as far-fetched, while others have said it is simply wrong. All I can say is that the notions of rebirth and the cycles of life are at the heart of director Ki-Duk Kim’s vision. This is a story about humans making the same mistakes time and time again, and continuously learning that we really know less than we thought we did. The movie exists in a temple in the middle of a lake. Essentially floating on a raft, the temple is occupied by an older master (Yeong-su Oh) and a younger student, who both grow old through the five segments of the film’s title. Each portion is assigned the label of a season. In spring, a child treats the world with disregard. In summer, an older child discovers the temptations of lust and the need to possess. In fall, that need has consumed him and he has lost control of himself. And in winter, he finally begins to understand the world that, to this point, he has been unable to see. I believe that much of the film’s criticism stems from a scene in which the old master exerts almost magical abilities, moving objects around in an a metaphysical way. His young student has just left him, and he closes a door across the lake, as well as moves a boat simply by waving his hands. But I took this character to be a metaphor in himself, serving as the all-knowing, omnipresent master who realizes that his student must leave and make his mistakes before he will return with his answers. There is almost no talking in “Spring,” though one should not take that as an indicator of inaction. A great deal happens in this story, and most of it is truer than we would like to admit. There is something universal about human failing that rings true in the film’s sentiments, and I saw much the same arc in the student’s life as I have discovered in my own. The wonderful moments here are the ones of compassion and understanding – of unconditional acceptance. The teacher is not here to preach, but to aid, and this is not a white-washed story of religion, but a movie that accepts a human being for who he truly is. The cyclical nature of the story is a mixed blessing, implying that we will all eventually find enlightenment, but also that the human race is destined to repeat the same, foolish mistakes throughout eternity. In one of the film’s final moments, an older student struggles to climb up a hill with a rock tied to his waste. This image is then juxtaposed with the images of tied down animals from earlier in the story, and here we are given the film’s final, beautiful, haunting message. Just as a young boy tied down these animals for his amusement, our existence ties us down. The best we can hope for is a guardian who will embrace our good along with our bad, one who will keep watch over us as we try to find our way, blind to what is right in front of our eyes.   Check out Reviews, Commentary, and More at Zertinet.com |
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