Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003)

review Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003)

Who would have thought that a movie about a monk living on a floating temple could be this mesmorising? This is the first movie I’ve seen directed by Korean director Ki-duk Kim, but I’d be interested to see more of his work.

Looking at the title you might be wondering what this movie is about and the first thing I think of is “The circle of life”. We see a monk who lives in this small temple together with a little boy who he raises. Although we see the different seasons they seem to symbolise stages in life.

The movie doesn’t have a lot of story (so I won’t tell much about it), but in this case it doesn’t matter. It’s such a beautiful movie to watch. The floating temple has been built specifically for this movie and the location is stunning. The lake is in the middle of the mountains with lots of trees and according to the director is was made centuries ago by a king who wanted to provide his people with water.

At the end of the movie I was completely enchanted by the images. Some might think it is a slow moving film, but I think it’s worth giving a shot.

Score: 9

10 thoughts on “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003)

  1. So is it safe to say this is like the Korean version of Tree of Life? 🙂 I love the title, yeah I think I’ll be interested in renting this.

  2. When I started my IMDB TOP 250 this film was barely within the list, so it’s my duty to watch it sometime soon. I have read similar reviews to yours that speak of a slow moving yet very beautiful film that touches the soul, so I’m thinking it’s probably true.

    Niels

    • Interesting, I don’t remember seeing it in the list. It was part of this boxset I bought and had heard it mentioned in a program about Korean cinema. Happy I managed to experience it.

      So you have not seen it yet Niels?

  3. I’ve always seen this when I’ve been browsing films to stream but been put off because I had no idea what it was about. Thanks for this Nostra, I really fancy watching it now!

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