Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring
Imagine an hour and half movie with hardly 30-40 sentences spoken; dramatic, beautiful sceneries spread across all seasons; eastern philosophy, stirring music - you get the wonderful Korean movie - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring.The movie starts in solitary floating hermitage on a silent lake nestled in a beautiful valley. The opening shot opens to a door near the end of the lake. The door opens and we get a view of the hermitage stationed on the lake. The holy man in the hermitage brings up a small kid. There is one room in the hermitage - with a statue of Buddha in the middle of the room. There are two inner doors - doors that do not have any walls beside them. You can go through the doors or just walk around it. The doors are the most mysterious objects in the hermitage. What is the purpose of those doors? Why does the holy man and the kid use the door and not just walk around it. The only time the kid(now grown up) avoids the door is when he goes out to have a clandestine relationship with a girl devotee who had come to hermitage to convalesce(even during that minor escapade he first tries the door). Does it indicate the fact that we tend to try short-cuts or see the passages only when we are pressed into tight situations? No idea.
I like a movie where they do not lay down full details and let us explore and figure what it is trying to tell. This is one such movie where there are many mysterious scenes that keep you wondering and guessing their significance.
It is simple, yet powerful visual story. I think the idea that you bear the fruits of your mistake and life is but a circle are the main themes of the story. Here is a trailer of the movie - you will get the glimpse of the breathtaking scenes in it.
