Although not nearly as unpleasant as watching Cries and Whispers where a woman cuts her genitalia with a piece of broken glass, Samaritan Girl falls more or less in the same category of, “Why do I need to watch this?” That said, under the admirable direction of Kim Ki-Duk, it’s a strangely watchable film. I’m on the fence with this one.
3-Iron tells the story of a guy who spends his time breaking into and living in houses where he knows the owners are on vacation. He always cleans and tidies up the house, then leaves a token of appreciation behind. Inevitably he breaks into a house where someone is home, and I don’t want to say what happens next, but it’s magical. The director, Ki-duk Kim, who directed one of my favourite movies from last year, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, likes to create characters who develop relationships in a non-verbal manner — and he makes it work. The two main characters of this film don’t speak a single word to each other, yet you know exactly how they feel about each other. It’s pure fantasy, of course, but pure cinema, too, in that you’re drawn into the story, into the lives and feelings of the characters, simply by watching them be together. It’s magical and compelling and dramatic and tragic and funny, and I know I’m going to like this movie more every time I watch it.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring is a movie that doesn’t rush to get to where it’s going: A Buddhist monk and his young apprentice live alone on a houseboat in the middle of a lake surrounded by hills and forest. They sweep the floor, they read, they meditate, they row a boat to shore where they pick wild herbs for making soups and teas. Then one day someone drops by looking for spiritual guidance. From beginning to end, there might be 5 minutes of dialogue. It’s pure cinema. I love it.