3-Iron

Written and directed by Kim Ki-Duk, 3-Iron is the story of a young drifter whose life changes when he meets a young woman who lives in an unhappy marriage. The film is an exploration into the world of a relationship between a man and a woman lost in their melancholic world. Starring Jae Hee and Lee Seung-yeon. 3-Iron is a compelling romantic film from Kim Ki-Duk.

The film is essentially a love story between this lonely drifter named Tae-Suk (Jae Hee), who breaks into other people’s homes when no one is around, and this model Sun-hwa (Lee Seung-yeon) who happens to be at home when he breaks in as she watches from afar. The two eventually form an unspoken relationship as Sun-hwa looks to Tae-suk as an escape from her unhappy and abusive marriage as she joins him living in other people’s homes until a few encounters that gets them in trouble with the police. This would lead for Tae-Suk is taken to jail and Sun-hwa back to her unhappy marriage where things eventually become stranger in the course of the film.

It’s a film where for the two protagonists don’t say anything throughout the entirety of the film as other characters are the ones with dialogue. Kim Ki-Duk create a film that’s more about actions rather than words in order for the story to move forward. The first half of the story is largely unconventional as there isn’t a lot of dialogue as a lot of the action where Tae-Suk and Sun-hwa break into people’s homes is part of what they do as they begin the day passing flyers onto doors and whatever home doesn’t have a flyer taken is the place they break-in to and stay for a bit. At a home, they would live their for a while and do all sorts of things there while not take anything at the home. Of course, there’s an element of danger into invading one’s home where they could be later met by its inhabitants or find something that is unsettling.

It’s a very interesting first half where there’s not a lot of words said while the second half is more conventional for the fact that there’s other characters involved including Sun-hwa’s husband (Kwon Hyuk-ho). There’s more dialogue that is spoken by the supporting characters while the fates of the protagonists are driven more by these supporting characters that includes the husband and a corrupt detective. Then comes this strange third act where Tae-Suk would do something that would defy convention while Sun-hwa would also start to come into her own as an act of defiance against her husband.

Kim Ki-Duk’s direction is presented with a lot of simplicity in terms of the compositions he creates and how he sets up each scene that is to play out. While a lot of scenes do reveal how Tae-Suk begins the day and then repeat every action all over again when he’s with Sun-hwa, it’s to establish their relationship and everything they do as these lost, silent souls. While a lot of the film takes place in different homes and apartments with some of it shot around the city, Ki-Duk’s direction always has an air of restraint to how the drama unfolds as if he’s making a silent movie in the film’s first half while the editing is methodical in the way things play out. Its second half is sort of conventional in terms of the drama that plays out though it is third act that has Ki-Duk blurring the idea of reality and fiction as far as what the protagonists do based on everything they had just experienced. Overall, Ki-Duk creates a truly entrancing film about love in the strangest of circumstances.

Cinematographer Jang Seong-back does nice work with the photography from the colorful daytime exteriors and some its interiors to more stylish array of lighting in the nighttime scenes. Production designer Art Chungsol does excellent work with the set pieces created such as the varied different homes Tae-Suk and Sun-hwa break into. The sound work of Jung Jin-wook is terrific for how sparse it is used to play up many of the film‘s silent moments. The film’s score by Slvian is superb for its melancholic piano theme to play up the romance to elements of ambient music for more dramatic moments as the soundtrack also includes a song sung by Natacha Atlas that is played throughout.

The film’s cast is brilliant as it features some small roles from Park Dong-jin as a sympathetic detective, Choi Jeong-ho as a vicious jailer, and Kwon Hyuk-ho as Sun-hwa’s workaholic and angry husband. The film’s best performances go to the duo of Jae Hee and Lee Seung-yeon in their respective roles as Tae-Suk and Sun-hwa for the way express themselves without dialogue as they each give very evocative performances told with such restraint in their physicality with Hee providing more intense movements while Seung-yeon has a gracefulness to the way she presents herself.

3-Iron is an extraordinary film from Kim Ki-Duk that features incredible performances from Jae Hee and Lee Seung-yeon. The film is definitely among one of South Korean cinema’s most intriguing films for the way it tells a story in a minimalist approach. It’s also a romantic film that audiences can be engaged by for the way its characters express themselves. In the end, 3-Iron is a marvelous romantic drama from Kim Ki-Duk.

Kim Ki-Duk Films: (Crocodile) - (Wild Animals) - (Birdcage Inn) - (Real Fiction) - (The Isle) - (Address Unknown) - (Bad Guy) - (The Coast Guard) - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring - (Samaritan Girl) - (The Bow) - (Time) - (Breath (2007 film)) - (Dream) - (Arirang) - (Amen (2011 film)) - (Pieta)

© thevoid99 2012

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

Written and directed by Kim Ki-Duk, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring is the story of the life a Buddhist monk told in five different seasons through different parts of his life. The film is an exploration into a man in five parts of his life from childhood to adulthood set in different moments of his life. Starring Su Oh-yeong, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Jong-ho, and Ha Yeo-jin. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring is an evocative yet hypnotic film from Kim Ki-Duk.

The film is essentially the story about the life of a monk who lives with an older monk (Su Oh-yeong) in the course of five different periods. There, he starts off as a boy (Kim Jong-ho) wondering about his surroundings including animals as the old monk raises him and it ends in full circle where the monk is a full-fledge adult (Kim Ki-Duk). All of it is told in five parts and in four seasons in the evolution of this young monk where he learns about life as a child. In the summer as a young man (Seo Jae-kyung), he learns about temptation when a young woman (Ha Yeo-jin) arrives to live with monks for her illness where he becomes tempted by the world outside of this floating monastery.

There’s an element of serenity and innocence in the film’s first half as there isn’t a lot of dialogue told throughout the first two sections of the film. Still, there’s an element of trouble told in some of the dialogue in how the old monk tells his apprentice about the world outside and how bad things will be if there’s no control. When it comes to the fall section, the man (Kim Young-min) arrives as a man disillusioned and troubled by the world he had just left seeking some sort of redemption and peace. He would be followed by two detectives (Ji Dae-han and Choi Min) as they would be amazed by the world the old man had created but it would also be a turning point for both the old monk and his apprentice as the latter would return in the winter section all alone to fulfill the work of his master.

The film’s unique structure and lack of conventional storytelling as it’s all about a man’s evolution to understand the role he must live in. Yet, he is later torn in the world of love and faith only to discover that the world outside is far more complicated than the sheltered serenity he was raised by. In his subsequent returns to the monastery, he would have to find inner peace through not just means of humility but also understanding where he would eventually have to go onto a path without the master who had raised him.

The direction of Kim Ki-Duk is truly ravishing in the way he presents the film as it all takes place in one singular location in the middle of a lake surrounded by mountains. With the film set in the forest and waterfalls near the lake, Ki-Duk presents a world that is just simple where it’s just man and nature. The first two parts is all about these the old man and his apprentice living in a peaceful monastery until the girl and her mother (Kim Jung-young) come in seeking help from the monk. It is the girl’s presence that would cause temptation among this young apprentice as Ki-Duk has the two just expressing each other physically where it would eventually lead to a romance. Yet, Ki-Duk always ensure that the old monk is there since he has a good idea what is going on. There’s a sense of restraint in not just the acting but the directing where the camera always lingers on this floating monastery and always opens each section with the temple doors opening to present a new season. Even as Ki-Duk serves as editor to give each section different pacing feels so that they can each standout.

With these gorgeous compositions of the location and its surroundings, Ki-Duk creates a world that is filled with the simple ideas of temptation, wonderment, pleasure, and sorrow. The fall section is the most conventional because it has both the apprentice and his master each expressing their emotions more while a couple of outsiders look on to see what the master is doing to his apprentice. It would be followed by a very poignant scene of serenity that would involve the two detectives and then comes this chilling moment where the apprentice would later realize about what he would do if he was to return. This would take the film full circle as it ends in a similar manner to the way the film begins as the overall work that Ki-Duk creates is truly exotic but also entrancing film that explores the world of faith.

Cinematographer Baek Dong-hyeon does amazing work with the film‘s gorgeous photography that has a very naturalistic feel for each season from the green look of the spring and summer sections to the more sunnier look of the summer and fall while there‘s an evocative look to the nighttime exteriors as Dong-hyeon‘s work is the film‘s technical highlight. Costume designer Kim Min-Hee does very good work with the costumes from the monk clothes the monks wear to the more modern clothing of the girl. The sound work of Ku Bon-seung is excellent for the way it captures the exotic atmosphere of the location. The film’s music by Park Ji-woong is brilliant for its soothing yet lush orchestral arrangements to play up the serenity of the film.

The film’s cast is incredible for the performances the small ensemble gives such as Choi Min and Ji Dae-han as the two detectives trying to capture the apprentice and Kim Jung-young as the girl’s mother. Ha Yeo-jin is excellent as the girl who is intrigued by the teenage monk as she would begin a love affair with him. In the roles of the apprentice, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Jong-ho, and director Kim Ki-Duk each provide marvelous performances in their respective roles as a young monk in the film. The film’s best performance goes to Su Oh-yeong as the old monk who teaches his apprentice about the ways of the world as there’s a real sense of calmness and wisdom in the performance that is truly unforgettable to watch.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter,… and Spring is an outstanding film from Kim Ki-Duk that explores the world of faith and serenity. It is definitely among one of the great films of the 2000s as well as one of South Korean cinema’s finest films as it explores a world that not many people know about. Particularly the world of Buddhism as it gives an audience ideas about how they live and such. In the end, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring is an extraordinary film from Kim Ki-Duk.

Kim Ki-Duk Films: (Crocodile) - (Wild Animals) - (Birdcage Inn) - (Real Fiction) - (The Isle) - (Address Unknown) - (Bad Guy) - (The Coast Guard) - (Samaritan Girl) - 3-Iron - (The Bow) - (Time) - (Breath (2007 film)) - (Dream) - (Arirang) - (Amen (2011 film)) - (Pieta)

© thevoid99 2012