South Korea, 2003
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Score: ****

Self-taught South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk is most likely than not, unheard of among North American audiences.  But for those who frequent the film festival circuit, this bad boy of Korean cinema of cruelty is well-known for shocking audiences causing many to faint, vomit or leave with scenes like fish hooks inserted into the vagina (THE ISLE), pencils poked into eyeballs (ADDRESS UNKNOWN) or animals slaughtered on screen (BAD GUY).  Kim’s films have been dismissed by some critics as artistic ***censored*** but Kim’s new feature SPRING, SUMMER et al. is a surprisingly assured and more matured work containing many scenes of astonishing beauty (natural or man-made) like the floating monastery on a secluded lake by the mountains or the painted artwork on the side of the canoe.

As the title goes, the seasons serve as a metaphor for 4 stages of a human being’s life – the repeated stage (spring) signaling a return to the full cycle.  According to director Kim, the elements of joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure are portrayed through the life of a monk surrounded only by nature.  The action is catalyzed by the words of the old monk’s who admonishes the young monk after discovering him having sex with a visiting girl, “With lust comes the intention to possess and then the intention of murder.”

The film opens with spring with the protagonist as a boy (Kim Jong-ho) under the guidance of his master, an older monk (Oh Young-soo).  Nothing much in terms of plot happens in this first segment, yet this is the most captivating of the five.  Director Kim introduces the beauty of the lake (actually a man-made one 200 years ago in a National park), overlooked by mountains and century old trees.  The monastery lived in by the two floats on the water, switching directions as if indicating the various directions life can take.  Joy, innocence and a little ignorance are the human traits portrayed by the boy as he ties stones to a snake, frog and fish hampering their movements.  When the older monk teaches him a lesson by doing the same to him (with a rock), the boy attempts to free his animal victims only to discover that the fish and snake have died as a result.  The boy learns an important lesson in a simple tale that is so effectively told.

The film moves on to summer.  It is the summer of years ahead when the boy is now 17.  With the arrival of a sick girl to be cured, the teen (now played by Seo Jae-kyung) succumbs to his sexual desires.  Like Pandora’s box that is opened, the young monk discovers all the evil that comes with love and desire.  And so Kim’s film progresses through the other stages.

Kim’s camera work is static.  There are no hand held camera or tracking shots.  The characters move in and out of the frames (the common technique used in many of the old Japanese and Korean films) as if nature acting as the camera engulfs or captures the human’s actions and emotions.

SPRING, SUMMER et al. is fascinating for the way Kim ties the little seen Korean culture into his storytelling.  Kim ends each segment with the slow opening of the free-standing doors at the edge of the lake expressing the passage of time as the seasons change.  As for the doors inside the monastery, they act like as rules.  Thus when the young monk ignores the free standing door and sneaks into the girl’s room by going through (the door) and not around it, Kim implies that the monk is presently ignoring his master’s wishes.  Kim himself acts in the winter segment, playing the role of the matured monk.  In one scene, he practices Sun Moo Do, a form of martial arts used for treating the body and mind.  Non-Koreans will miss the part about the song Jung-sun Arirang, a poetic and nostalgic rhythm heard over the soundtrack when the matured monk journeys to the top of the mountain.  The hardship he faces is matched by the well-known song’s theme.

Yet the pain and cruelty is still present, though not graphically as in Kim’s earlier films.  The young monk collapses in exhaustion when he is forced to carve out the sutra on the wooden deck overnight.  The simple act of burdening a snake, frog or fish with a stone is another form of animal cruelty.  At least, unlike Kim’s other films, the plot justifies the purpose of these acts.  Another characteristic of Kim’s film is the sparse dialogue.  His characters speak only if they have to.  A consequence, however, is that he has to rely on other techniques to enhance his story.

Kim’s film is very watchable despite its slow pace.  Having viewed it twice – the first time at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival – SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTRE.. AND SPRING still appears fresh and unpredictable as Mother Nature’s different seasons.

Review by Gilbert Seah.