rev_f_springsummer

SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER... and SPRING
min choi / yeo-jin ha

as reviewed by Jack Crompton at Amazon.com, November 21, 2006

A penetrating look at the repeating cycles of life...

This remarkable film about the seasons in a man's life is one of my all time most highly regarded cinematic experiences. This is a different kind of film altogether... as different from mainstream movies as the title suggests it is. There's not one car chase scene in it. However, if you can slow yourself down to the pace of this film, and fully enter into the experience of it, then I think you will agree this is an exquisite piece of film-making indeed.

First off, there is almost no dialog in it. It communicates almost entirely, for almost two hours-through very skillful, stunning visuals that gradually reveal a fascinating story that examines the various 'seasons' that span the course of an individuals life. In this case, they are spent almost entirely in isolation in nature, yet this man faces the kind of choices and consequences of actions that are universal to the human race.

Visually, the film is breathtaking, the location being a mountain lake set high in an alpine environment surrounded by scenic mountain peaks of undefiled nature. The relaxed pace in which the film unfolds is like a long relaxed walk in the woods... you begin to notice the DETAILS that give such an experience meaning.

There's not much more I wish to add, except that it's quite memorable and it moved me to great emotion. A real work of art. Highly recommended.

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