Movies - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

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	Movies - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring is a 2003 Korean movie about a Buddhist monastery which floats on a lake in a pristine forest. The story is about the life of a Buddhist monk as he passes through the seasons of his life, from childhood to old age.

The movie was directed by Kim Ki-duk, and stars Su Oh-yeong, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Jong-ho. The director himself appears as the man in the last stage of life. The quiet, contemplative film marked a significant change from his previous works which were often criticized for excessive violence and misogyny.

Story

Spring

There is an old wise monk who is the master, and a young boy who is the master's novice and protege.

One day the boy is climbing a rocky slope, and is gathering some plants from the ledge of a boulder, but a snake was hiding behind the rock. The snake moves towards the boy, but the boy then nonchalantly grabs the snake with his hand and throws it away, beyond him. Then the boy climbs further up to the head of a big statue of the Buddha, and perches next to the Buddha's ear and watches the natural scenery in front of the Buddha.

One day in spring the boy is playing outside with animals. He sees a fish in the stream, and ties a rock to a fish by means of a string: he winds the string several times around the fish and puts the fish back in the water. The fish has difficulty swimming, but the boy finds it amusing. Then the boy finds a frog, and he ties a rock to the frog's leg, then lets the frog back in the water, and the frog tries to swim by pushing itself in the water, but is tied down by the rock. Then the boy finds a snake among the rocks. He ties a rock by means of a string to the snake: the snake tries to crawl, and the boy laughs.

Unbeknownst to the boy, the old monk was watching him. At night in the monastery, the boy sleeps in his corner and the old monk grabs a big stone and ties it with a rope to the boy's back.

The next morning the boy wakes up and notices the heaviness attached to him: he complains to his master. His master asks him if he tied a stone to a fish. The boy says yes. The master asks the boy if he tied a stone to a frog. The boys says yes. The master asks if the boy tied a stone to a snake. The boy says yes. The old monk asks the boy how he thinks the animals felt when they could not move properly. The boy answers that what he did was incorrect.

Then the master orders the boy to go with the stone tied to his back, find the animals and untie them. If he does so, then the old man will untie the big stone on the young boy's back. But if he should find the animals dead, then he would carry the stone in his heart for the rest of his life.

The boy goes out with the stone still tied to his back and struggles to get back to the stream. In the stream, he finds the fish dead, on the bottom of the shallow stream, tied to the rock. The boy goes to the part of the stream under a big boulder and finds the frog floating, still tied to the rock. He unwinds the string from the frog, and sets the frog free. The frog swims away in the stream, towards the shadow of some big boulder. Then the boy struggles his way out of the stream, making noise while stumbling with his bare feet on little rocks, and finds the snake, but the snake is all bloodied and dead. The boy cries with profound grief.

Summer

The boy has grown older and is now an adolescent. There is a gate with two doors which leads to the monastery. The pair of doors open up to a view of the floating boat-monastery on the misty lake. By the gate there are a pair of visitors: an adolescent girl and her mother. The young monk rows the boat towards them and leads them into the boat, then he rows them towards the monastery. The mother tells the young monk that her daughter is sick. The young monk points to a tree by the water and says that tree is over a hundred years old, and that her daughter will get well.

Then they meet the master. They go inside the wooden temple where there is an altar with a statue of the Buddha in meditative position, and in front of the Buddha is a fish pond with gold fish swimming in it.

Inside, the mother kneels in front of the Buddha and joins her hands in prayer and supplication. The old monk performs some chants and beats a hollow wooden instrument with a wooden stick. The old monk tells the mother that something bothers her daughter's spirit, but that when that is dealt with, her physical ailments will go away.

At night, both monks sleep in a small room on the side of the temple. The girl in her white dress kneels in front of the Buddha and prays, later on she is sprawling on the floor in front of the altar, almost asleep. At one time, she gets close to the pond and watches the fish.

One morning the girl lies sleeping on the floor, uncovered, in her white dress. The young monk brings a blanket to spread on top of her. He does so. But then, looking at her, he gets tempted, grabs the edge of the blanket, lifts it, peeks under it, and grabs her breast. That wakes her up and she slaps his face. Then he feels quite guilty and turns towards the Buddha and starts praying nervously. The old monk comes in and notices the prayers, and asks the young monk why he is praying at this unusual time of the day.

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