The Self and the Selfless

Critically acclaimed South Korean director, Kim Ki-duk, directs, writes, and edits this stunning film, which the explores the religious, philosophical, and generational underpinnings of desire and suffering. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is a breath-taking film that visually immerses us within the religious principles of Mahayana Buddhism and a monk’s journey of self-discovery, see image#0 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring; IMDb). The film’s quest to illustrate the tumultuous journey towards enlightenment is clearly encapsulated in the director’s intention for the film. “I intended to portray the joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure of our lives through four seasons and through the life of a monk who lives in a temple on Jusan Pond surrounded only by nature” (Sony Pictures Classics). Rather than analyzing the film through its religious meaning, this review will instead focus on how the film’s cinematography, musical score, and sound convey those religious meanings through images and sound.

As the film’s title may suggest, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is told through the five seasons in the life of an old monk and his younger pupil. By constructing the narrative of the story along five disjointed sequences, Kim Ki-duk is able to contrast the selflessness and selfishness of both monks. Overall, the non-linear narrative clearly highlights the generational gaps through the religious serenity of one monk and the religious torment of the other. The young monk’s conflict throughout each season is conveyed through several reoccurring motifs and the intrusion of an outsider: the girl. In addition to the generational contrast, the non-linear narrative creates a parallel between the cyclical seasons, and the young monk’s growth from selfish desires to selfless isolation. This parallel follows the young monk genesis during spring, the boy monk’s desires and exodus during the summer, the young adult monk’s violations during the fall, and the adult monk’s rebirth during winter and spring again. Besides the film’s sophisticated narrative, the film’s plot succeeds through brilliant the performances given by the film’s cast. The old monk is portrayed by Oh Young-Soo, and the girl is portrayed by Ha Yeo-Jin, see image 1.1 (Sony Pictures Classics). The generational shifts of the young monk are portrayed by Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, and the film’s directors, Kim Ki-Duk, see image#1.2 (Sony Pictures Classics).

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, when Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring was released in Korea on September 19, 2003, the film only attracted an audience of about 100,000 people, but this was not rare for a low budget film (KTO). Once distributed worldwide in 2004, the film exceeded the seven million dollar mark by appealing to the audiences in Germany, the United States, and Argentina to name a few (KTO). With a run-time of one hour and forty three minutes, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring was produced by Korea Pictures and LJ Films among five other production companies. Each production company plays a vital function in realizing the director’s vision of taking the viewer through the cyclical passages of desire, enlightenment, and suffering, see image#2 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring).

 One of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring most effective tools in telling the story of birth, death, and rebirth is the use of ambient sounds and images to portray the story. Through the ambient sounds of Jusan Pond in Korea, Ji Bark’s brilliant musical score, and the film’s cinematography, the film exposes the journey of two monks to transcend suffering by eliminating and isolating desire (Sony Pictures Classics). But, as the film beautifully portrays in the final spring, the quest to transcend suffering through the cycle of life and death is futile. Through the seasons of spring, the film ponders on two intriguing questions: can we truly transcend suffering through isolation, or must we transcend suffering by being isolated and immersed in the world simultaneously.  

An example of how sound and image combine to tell the story is clearly seen in the beginning of the film. In the beginning, the film relies on diegetic sounds that depict the actual reality of the hermitage, the master, and the pupil (Raj). For example, inside the floating hermitage, the camera jumps to a shot of the statue of the seated Buddha’s on a lotus flower floating within a round large bowl of water. Subsequently, the camera tilts up towards a profile of the sitting Buddha, and cuts to a medium shot of the old monk making sounds with a wooden instrument, see image#3 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). The monk’s use of the wooden instrument is an example of diegetic sound, which originates from the actual reality of the scene (Raj). The wooden instrument clearly illustrates how the sound from the instrument deepens the monk’s state of concentration, which also highlighting the Buddha’s contraction and tranquility. In this sequence, the statue of the Buddha and the monk appear to become one person, through how the camera centers an almost exact profile medium shot of both man and statue, see image#3 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). Overall, this scene illustrates how the composition of objects and characters in a scene, otherwise known as mise-en-scene, and the strategic use of sound can delve deeply in the meaning of the story.  

Image#3 
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

While diegetic sound can immerse us within the actual reality of the film, non-diegetic, sound created outside the reality of the film, can temporally detach from the film. This tension between diegetic and non-diegetic sound can intensify our appreciation of film’s cinematography. As non-diegetic sound, Ji Bark’s musical score at times appears to be an artificial sound, but at other times, the score appears to mimic the natural sounds of Jusan Pond. This tension between natural and artificial sounds also parallels the generational gap between the old and young monk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). This tension is also conveyed by the film’s cinematography. During the first spring, the “child monk” is walking through the forest looking for medicine, but towards the end of his quest he finds a massive statute of a sitting Buddha, see image#4 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring; Sony Classic Pictures). While this scene presents one of the crises of the film (i.e.: the snake), this scene also illustrates the importance of cinematography and sound to hint to the young monk’s” future dilemma.  While exploring the giant statute of the seated Buddha, the camera places the young monk in a low angle long shot in relation to the Buddha’s massive head, see image#4 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). The camera then cuts to a bird’s eye view of Jusan Pond, and once again cuts to a zoomed in long shot of the child monk within a close-up of the Buddha’s head, see image#4 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). As the child monk stands next to Buddha’s head, Ji Bark’s musical score slowly fills the scene. This scene clearly shows the paradox of the Buddha: a figure seamlessly integrated and yet isolated from its environment. Through relative size and the white color of his robe, the child monk stands as an impotent figure in high contrast to the Buddha’s control and tranquility. As a reoccurring motif, the statute of the seated Buddha stands as a reminder that the cycle of suffering and enlightenment is universal, cyclical, and even persistent.

Image#4
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Overall, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring is capable of disseminating years of Buddhist teachings within a simple arrangement of actors and objects in a scene. Known as mise-en-scene, the composition of objects within a specific camera shot helps to cement the film’s themes through cinematography (Raj). With an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on thirty-five millimeter film, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring captures the visual dominance of Jusan Pond, the floating hermitage, and the seated Buddha (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring, IMDb). As a disseminator of ideas, the film also conveys the importance of symbols to tell the story. The symbolization of water also becomes a reoccurring motif that highlights the significance of the story. It may be argued that water is a manifestation of the young monk’s carnal desires, and his inability to control said desires. This is clearly illustrated through how the pond parallels the interior configuration of the floating hermitage. In image#5, notice how in a long shot, in the composition, mirrors the placement of the isolated door of the pond and isolated door of the hermitage within the same spaces of the composition. (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). Overall, this sequence conveys how isolation destroys physical and psychological divisions, and how certain elements, more specifically water, can triggers a path to immersion.

Image#5
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

In the first season, spring, the camera tracks through a portal or door, which frames the hermitage floating on the Jusan Pond, see image#6 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). Throughout the film, the door becomes a visual frame, which marks not only the passage of time, but the growth of the specific characters. One of the film’s most important characters is actually an inanimate object, which symbolizes the serenity of the old monk and the instability of the other. The seated Buddha on the lotus flower becomes alive through specific camera angles and lighting. Image#6.1 depicts the sequence when the sick girl is interacting with the seated Buddha. In this sequence, the camera’s high angle shot of the girl on the floors reinforces her suffering, while a low angle shot of the seated Buddha highlights its dominance and power, see image#6 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). As the old monk says to the girl’s mother, “I believe that her soul is suffering” (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring). The girl’s suffering, which stems from a lack of desire, a desire which later overwhelms the souls of the young girl and monk.

Image#6
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Image#6.1
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Kim Ki-Duk’s film, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring, beautifully conveys the idea that conflict between the self and the selfless is one that generates both enlightenment and suffering. Through the beauty of the South Korean forest, this struggle unfolds in a place that mirrors the Buddha's quest for enlightenment on the tranquil surface of Jusan Pond, see image#7 (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter..and Spring). While watching the film, I strongly urge you to ask yourself the following questions: does the old monk succeeds in reaching enlighten, will the younger monk also reach enlighten, and will they break the cycle of suffering to become the Buddha? These are questions will only have answers at the end of the film, so I strongly recommend this film whenever you are contemplating the meaning of life. Through the five seasons, Kim Ki-duk explores the realities of joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure, and how they all fuel suffering and enlightenment (Sony Pictures).

Image#7
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots

Works Cited

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, nd, Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter…and Spring Some. Dir. Ki-Duk Kim. Perf. Oh Young-Soo, Ha Yeo-Jin, Kim Jong-Ho, Seo Jae-Kyung, Kim Young-Min, Kim Ki-Duk. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004. DVD. Screen Shots.

The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, 2009, Web. 13 Feb. 2014

Sony Pictures Classics. “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…And Summer, 2004. Web. http://www.sonyclassics.com/spring/shell.html

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). . N.p.. Web. 18 Feb 2014. <http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_2_6.jsp>.