| I missed this film when it originally came out in the cinema as I didn’t have time to go up town and it wasn’t on anywhere near me. I’m glad that I took the time to rent it now though. As my first piece of Korean cinema, it was a strange film to watch, but wonderful nevertheless. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring is a rite of passage film with the different seasons corresponding to the different points of a man’s life. As the film starts with ‘Spring’ we see a young boy living with his Master in a floating Buddhist temple on a lake, isolated from the outside world. As is expected of a small boy, he’s not very nice to small animals, and his Master must teach him a lesson. The same type of structure applies in both ‘Summer’ and ‘Autumn’, each time a different lesson imparted as the boy grows up.
In many ways, this is a film where nothing happens, and quite a bit happens at the same time. A great deal of it is silent, a good thing for those of you who don’t like subtitles. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring is by no means everyone’s cup of tea. I enjoyed it as I found it moving and the setting is stunning. However, I have a feeling that for many people, the lack of action and dialogue may be quite grating. It is a film to think about rather than just watch.
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