Best movie ever!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

The plot of the movie revolves around an old monk (master) and a young monk (disciple), living on a floating house at an isolated lake.As we grow up, we go through certain changes at different stages of life. The movie has similarly depicted those changes, in a beautiful way of seasons. While the young monk grows up, he goes through various life learning experiences respective of his age and finally leave.The movie is about how our life goes on to have different seasons and don't end there. Nature repeats its seasons, year and year after. Likewise, the circle of life continues to have the same stages in a different form, through the following generations. Even if the monk was living isolated, oblivious of what in the rest of the world is going, he had to go through same seasons of life as we all do. Here, the thing to learn is that, irrespective of what our future generations will do, the basic human characters are always going to be there and repeat it as someone else.

The title gives away the structure. It is Spring, and a floating temple is surrounding by an idyllic lake and mountains all around. A young boy giggles endlessly while abusing animals in the most unusually cruel way, and no doubt Kim Ki-duk has inflicted this in real life as it is on the screen, leading to that entire end sequence being cut in the US. Not that I agree with animals cruelty, but there is nothing to be gained and much to be lost by removing the entire ending of a film. Upon being discovered by his master, the boy has his own cruelty imposed on him, and the young actor's ability to laugh and gurgle so unmoved from his acts but also sob endlessly is marvellous. A stone is placed in his heart, and its burden remains for much of his young life. Summer opens as all the other seasons do, with the creaky beckoning of the doors of the archway which often frames the floating temple. Now it provide a docking point in the heat of summer, while at other times it is half submerged by the tide. It provides a purely symbolic function, much like the wall-less door in the temple itself, but signifies the devotion of the Buddhist lifestyle that is marred when the now teenage boy commits theft and flees. He is blossoming sexually, wrapped up by carnal desire, but is also conflicted enough to pray relentlessly and tearfully upon his defeat to temptation. The first instance of sex is framed by a extreme wide shot of the two against the rocky shore of the lake, and I am struck by how much this seems like animalistic behaviour in the wild, of filming a documentary where two creatures unexpectedly give into their biological functions. The master is not furious when he catches him, but warns that a strand of lust and desire will lead to greater wrongs. He carries two items as he flees, heartbroken; the rooster is a purely selfish act, while the statue is the weight of the teachings that cannot be separated. The last shot is of sunlight being pushed out of frame by storm clouds.Fall brings orange leaves and the boy back, now a young man and having committed murder because of his undying love. This is tragic because it shows the pitfalls of the religion and also the solitary lifestyle; he has been taught to repress such desires and has not adequately understood love, and so chases after a woman who, he has shared more sexual experiences than words with. The rock is at its most heaviest here. And yet the master is once again not furious, but wholly accepting. He beats him not for the murder he has committed, but for trying to escape its consequences through suicide. Kim di-Kuk masterfully imbues a peaceful silence as the man carves out his repentance (an admittedly cheesy moment when the master silences the gunshots with well thrown rock). Even the two policemen become swayed by this peace. As he is taken away for physical punishment, there is a achingly beautiful time lapse shot where the water and leaves tremble, and the temple slowly but surely floats across serenely. This signifies the end of the master's life, having done all he has done. There will be another master.Winter, and the lake is frozen in time. In an incident of karma, a veiled woman arrives, proceeds to abandon her son, and pays dearly with her life. The middle aged man, nearly complete in his repentance and understanding, merely accepts this as it is, just as his master did so long ago. We do not see her face, but does it matter? It could be any of us. The soundtrack is at its most dramatic here. A tense orchestration strikes up as he begins a training montage, moulding and sculpting his body according to the meditative teachings, acquiring peace of mind. He gracefully poses upon the slippery surface without the least bit of concern - he has mastered the surface, and the water that he once struggled with so much. To complete his journey, he once again inflicts the punishment of the animals. The traditional ode Jeongseon Arirang is particularly lifting as he beings the ascent to the mountain. Crosscut are a frog, fish and snake struggling and writhing, mirroring his pain. It has been merely an hour in runtime since those childhood actions, but it feels like a lifetime. Life returns us to Spring, and again we have a young boy torturing animals, and showing a lack of awareness of what is to come. But the final shot offers a different perspective, of the Buddhist statue overlooking the lake and its temple, framed and isolated by the power of nature. The cycle of life and birth and reincarnation has brought us back to this point, but the trials and tribulations of a man promises release from this never-ending cycle. The colours and words of the Heart Sutra are now faded, but its lessons remain.