Spring, summer, autumn, winter… and spring ★★★★★
CINEFIL (2003)
Directed by: Kim Ki-duk
InterpretationsCast: Oh Yeon-soo, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Jong-min

Childhood innocence, sexual awakening, maturity and the realization of the end all find their place in the green lake.

The philosophical masterpiece of the great – and prematurely lost – Korean director Kim Ki-duk hits theaters this week in a restored digital version. High in the misty mountains, in the middle of a peaceful lake, stands a tiny temple-house where an old Buddhist monk lives with his young disciple. Their days pass peacefully, with prayer, daily activities, physical and spiritual exercises, in order to achieve absolute harmony with themselves, as well as with nature. All this until a young lady comes to the temple, looking for a cure for her mental illness. Naturally, the two young people will quickly become close and somewhere a seed of lust will be born, which leads to possessiveness and, ultimately, to murder. However, times are changing and new awareness will continue the cycle of life. Kim Ki-duk here departs from his usual fringe big-city heroes to talk about the philosophical harmony of Buddhism, but mostly praises nature, of which man is obviously a part. Using few dialogues and more parables, the creator effortlessly conveys a simple – but extremely fundamental – teaching to the gaze of the viewer, who at the same time is calmed by the magic of incredible images.

The temple in the center of the lake, the towering mountains and the life-giving water of the river create an atmosphere of peace and eternity. When a young monk shows no respect for the creatures that live in them, he learns what it is like to bear their burden himself. Of course, almost everything here is filled with symbolism: a boat connecting two “worlds”, a gate, a knife, various animals, even the four seasons, which exactly correspond not to time periods, but to the phases of the characters. ‘ life. Childhood innocence, sexual awakening, maturity and the realization of the end all find their place in the green lake.

Kim Ki-duk himself described his film as follows: “I set out to portray joy, anger, pain and pleasure through the four seasons and through the life of a monk who lives in a temple on Jusan Lake, surrounded only by nature.”