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

Director:

Ki-duk Kim

Writer:

Ki-duk Kim (writer)

Release Date:

19 September 2003 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Monk | Lust | Seasons | Catharsis | Love

Awards:

12 wins & 7 nominations

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

Directed by
Ki-duk Kim

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ki-duk Kim		writer

Produced by
Karl Baumgartner	....	co-producer
Soma Chung	....	executive producer
Raimond Goebel	....	co-producer
Dong-Joo Kim	....	producer
So-hee Kim	....	co-producer
Seung-jae Lee	....	producer

Original Music by
Ji-woong Park

Cinematography by
Dong-hyeon Baek

Film Editing by
Ki-duk Kim

Costume Design by
Min-Hee Kim

Sound Department
Stephan Konken	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bon-seung Ku	....	sound
Richard Welsh	....	dolby sound consultant

Production Companies

• Korea Pictures
• LJ Film
• Pandora Filmproduktion
• Cineclick Asia
• Cinesoul
• Mirae Asset Capital
• Muhan Investment

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Cineclick Asia (2003) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2004) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Festive Films (2004) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Filmhouse (2004) (Mexico) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Mikado (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Pandora Filmproduktion (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Pretty Pictures (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• SPO (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Triangelfilm (2004) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• United King Films (2004) (Israel) (theatrical)
• Amazonia Films (2004-2011) (Venezuela) (all media)
• Argentina Video Home (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Bavaria Film International (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Califórnia Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (all media)
• Divisa Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Dolmen Home Video (2004) (Italy) (DVD)
• Dolmen Home Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Festival Films S.L. (2004) (Spain) (all media)
• Fundamental Films (2009) (China) (TV)
• Gateno Films (2005) (Peru) (all media)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Rialto Distribution (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Rialto Distribution (2005) (New Zealand) (all media)
• SPI International (Czech Republic)
• Slovenska Kinoteka (2004) (Slovenia)

Other Companies

• Konken Studios  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

"Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom" - South Korea (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some strong sexuality

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

South Korea | Germany

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Czech Republic:15 | Finland:K-11 (re-rating) | Finland:K-15 (original rating) | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:T | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:MG6 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R | Chile:14 | Hungary:16 | Japan:R-15 | Denmark:11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Norway:11 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Manitoba)

Company:

Korea Pictures

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Ki-duk Kim]the adult monk at the end of the movie.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After the cops take the young adult monk away and the old monk is standing on the monastery watching, a fine monofilament can be seen pulling the boat, which is ostensibly floating on the current, back to the monastery.

Quotes:

Old Monk:Lust awakens the desire to possess. And that awakens the intent to murder.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

not only cinema, but art

This film is a good example why cinema is called an art - this is not just another movie, but a real piece of art. The pleasure of seeing it belongs to the aesthetics, and it transcends beyond the action and beyond what only happens on screen, or what the characters say and do.

It is both a simple and complex story - the story of a life, catching all seasons of development of man: innocence of childhood - so quickly lost unfortunately, mistakes of the young age, tragedies of maturity , and wisdom coming with the old age.

The film is filmed at one location of a cut-breathing beauty. Beauty of nature is being maximized by the art of the camera. The soundtrack has little dialog, but the expressiveness of the actors makes the dialog useless. You feel the drama, you do not need to hear the words, and the music says more than words.

There are a lot of symbols in this movie, and I probably lost most of them because they belong to the Budhist culture. There are however many other symbols that speak to the European spectator - the cycles of life, the rhythms of nature, the magic figure 4, like the number of seasons of the year, or like the number of parts in classic symphony, the unity of space as in Greek tragedy, and time - one life instead of one day, all give to this creation a wonderful symmetry and equilibrium.

Worth seeing, this is a film that will make the delight of anybody who believes like I do that cinema is an art.