"Lust awakens the desire to possess. And that awakens the desire to murder. " Old Monk
☆☆☆☆☆ Masterpiece
Directed and acted in the last scenes by Kim Ki Duk.
Starring Oh Young Soo and Seo Jae Kyung among others.
Kim's film reminds me of Yasujiro Ozu's, Sanma No Aji (An Autumn Afternoon). Kim weaves the most simple, wonderous and meditate film I have ever had the pleasure of viewing as an audience member and as an actor. Kim uses the seasons to illustrate the cyclical journey of life. Buddhism idealogy is subtly embedded throughout the film to help us understand the story and its characters journey through nature's endless circular seasons.
As an audience member I was transported to a world filled with wisdom, serentity and majestic beauty. I'm not a Buddhist so the symbols that are subtly put into each scene were seen by me, but not fully understood. My lack of Buddhism in no way affected the journey Kim was taking me on. I just sat back and took Kim's journey and promised myself to research the Buddist symbolism after the film ended. I located a simple guide to the Buddhism symbols throughout Kim's film and I'm sharing it with you. Please watch the film before reading the link. Let the film speak to you at your level. Then after your first viewing be amazed and surprised at how many different Buddhist symbols Kim subtly put throughout the film to help his audience in their journey with the characters.
As an actor I was fascinated by the lack of dialogue throughout the film. The key to the acting in this film is the wonderful chemistry and subtext that Kim helps the actors achieve in each scene. Kim did a wonderful job with Seo Jae Kyung who plays the young boy in the first season of the film. Seo's emotional range shows an acting instrument well beyond his years. When I see young performers achieving such heights in their characters emotional life I give credit to the director who helped guide them there. Enjoy!
Trivia - None of the main characters in the film have names. Buddhist abandon the idea of the self and become part of the whole of existence.
No comments:
Post a Comment