Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
"Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom" (original title)

On an isolated lake, an old monk lives on a small floating temple. The wise master has also a young boy with him who learns to become a monk. And we watch as seasons and years pass by.

Director:

Ki-duk Kim

Writer:

Ki-duk Kim

Stars:

Yeong-su Oh, Ki-duk Kim, Young-min Kim

Top 250 #242 | 12 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Yeong-su Oh	...	Old Monk (as Young-soo Oh)
Ki-duk Kim	...	Adult Monk
Young-min Kim	...	Young Adult Monk
Jae-kyeong Seo	...	Boy Monk
Yeo-jin Ha	...	The Girl
Jong-ho Kim	...	Child Monk
Jung-young Kim	...	The Girl's Mother
Dae-han Ji	...	Detective Ji
Min Choi	...	Detective Choi
Ji-a Park	...	The Baby's Mother
Min-Young Song	...	The Baby

Storyline

In the midst of the Korean wilderness, a Buddhist master patiently raises a young boy to grow up in wisdom and compassion, through experience and endless exercises. Once the pupil discovers his sexual lust, he seems lost to contemplative life and follows his first love, but soon fails to adapt to the modern world, gets in jail for a crime of passion and returns to the master in search of spiritual redemption and reconciliation with karma, at a high price of physical catharsis...

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Plot Keywords:

monk | lust | seasons | catharsis | love | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site Sony Picture Classics [United States]

Country:

South Korea Germany

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$42,561 (USA) (2 April 2004)

Gross:

$2,380,788 (USA) (8 October 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Korea Pictures, LJ Film, Pandora Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ki-duk Kim:  the adult monk at the end of the movie.

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Goofs

When the young monk finishes inscribing the Heart Sutra on the floor and falls down exhausted, the inscriptions below him change between shots (even though he is lying motionless). In one shot, the inscriptions he is lying on have been painted; and as he wakes up, the paint is gone.

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Quotes

Old Monk: 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."

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Connections

Featured in Arirang (2011)

User Reviews

understated beautiful contemplative

a film of about the cycles of life, about solitude and love, innocence, corruption and redemption. stunning cinematography. lots of allusions and metaphors, as you might expect from Korean cinema. contemplative.

the story appears to centre on the life of buddhist monks living on a floating house, but as the film progresses, one sees that this is a film about the constancy within change and renewal. The female characters are not the most positive roles, representing corruption and temptation, tho also providing the means for renewal.

There are some memorable scenes not least the house in winter and the knife writing scene, this is not for those seeking martial arts action,

personally i found it slipped into one of favourite films list.