By Chau Nguyen
Kim Ki-duk delicately illustrates the precious cycle of life in his latest visually artistic film in hopes to further the prominence of Korean cinema.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
Running Time: 103 minutes
Producer: Lee Seung-jae
Director: Kim Ki-duk
Writer: Kim Ki-duk
Art Director: Oh Sang-man
Cinematographer: Baek Dong-hyun
Costume Designer: Kim Min-hee
Editor: Kim Ki-duk
Sound Mixer: Ku Bon-seung
Music Composer: Bark Jee-woong
Cast: Oh Young-su, Kim Jong-ho, Seo Jae-kyung, Kim Young-min, Kim Ki-duk
Production Company: LJ Film
Premiere Date: September 19, 2003
Country: Korea
Korea's nomination for this year's Academy Awards is Kim Ki-duk's Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Bom, Yeoreum, Gaeul, Gyeowool, Geurigo Bom). Starring Oh Young-su, Kim Jong-ho, Seo Jae-kyung, and Kim Young-min, the film follows the life of a Buddhist monk from his childhood days raised in a temple to his last days as an old man. Each season represents a crucial stage in the monk's life. In his later days, the elderly monk lives with a child monk in the temple, and thus the cycle of life continues just like the cycle of the four seasons.
Running 103 minutes, the movie was originally released in Korea on September 19, 2003. It has received critical acclaim, gaining a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the European Academy Awards, and appearing in numerous festivals around the world such as Locarno (where it picked up four awards), Tokyo Filmex, San Sebastian, Hamburg, and Toronto.
Known for his imaginative and attractive graphic images, Kim Ki-duk is a leading figure in Korean cinema and also one of its fastest producers. Since his debut with Crocodile in 1996, he had completed seven feature films in six years. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring marks his ninth film and his most stunning yet to date. Since his films usually have a radical perspective on Korean society and focus on marginal people, they are not considered blockbuster hits, but they do have a cult following in the festival circuit.
Korea's Film Industry
Korean cinema has been on the rise for the past few years ever since the debut of the 1999 blockbuster hit Shiri, followed by JSA (Joint Security Area) in 2000 and Friend (Chingu) in 2001. Before this rise, Korean movies were fairly unknown amongst the world and even the Korean people. In 2002, the market share of Korean movies was approximately 45.2%, a drastic increase from 15.9% nine years earlier. Before,
Hollywood movies dominated the Korean market, but the tides are turning as major Hollywood distributors such as Warner Brothers, MGM, and DreamWorks began to obtain the copyright remakes to many Korean hits.
This resurgence in Korean cinema has earned itself the label of “The New Hong Kong,” also the topic and title of Anthony Leong's new book (http: //www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/102403/koreancinema.html). If Kim's film receives the Academy Award, this will only add to Korea's continuing prominence in the international film market.
For more information about the movie, please visit the official website at www.springagain.co.kr (http: //www.springagain.co.kr) (Korean).
Published: Friday, January 23, 2004
