Introduction The film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring, uniquely presents the life of Buddhist monk as he passes through different stages in his life from childhood to adulthood. It is a contemplative film, selectively organized to clearly illustrate how human life is always busy and in many instances we do not live long enough to realize this. Though the film is a viewed as Buddhists movie, it is not but rather a religious film presenting the events in human life that help shape human life. From the film it may be argued that, some events beyond human control bring about turmoil and distress but most importantly, they form the key aspects in reminding us our roots. For instance, the monk makes choices that ultimately affects his life
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The director, Kim Ki – Duk portrays the boy to still be having some rough edges. He is excited by mischievous undertakings just as any other boy his age would be. Being a monk to be doesn’t change anything. However, as he continues staying in the monastery he is depicted to be maturing steadily. In summer for instance the boys turns 17 years and begins to show interest in the outside world when he gets aroused by contact with a girl who had visited for treatment (Gerner, 2008). He leaves the monastery but later on comes to pick up from where he had left in his training. The master monk begins by being very patient with his student. However, as time goes he begins to teach him lessons step by step through keen observance and correcting. He is then portrayed as possessing mysticism when he appears to have trailed the young monk to the shore without having a rowboat. He is everywhere to enable the boy learn the necessary skills. Ultimately he passes out in ‘winter’ after many years have passed by. He has accomplished his mission and leaves behind a mature adult …show more content…
Samsara is one of the Buddhism’s principles representing birth cycle, life, death, and rebirth. This principle is portrayed in several examples in the film. The seasonal changes from spring, summer, fall, and back to spring are used to represent the metaphor on the view of Buddhist in the life cycle of human beings. To elaborate this cycle properly, each season is represented by an animal. Spring is represented by a dog, summer is represented by Rooster, fall is represented by cat and winter is represented by snake (Jackson, 2010). The snake in the winter is used to show the old monk who committed suicide in order to free himself from worldly attachments. However, this monk is reincarnated in different forms. Buddhists believe that the theory Karma is the one responsible in driving Samsara. In Buddhism, karma is a basic theory standing for action or work. This theory explains that people’s actions in life determine where and how they will be reincarnated (Leidy, 2008). The young boy tortures defenseless frog, fish and snake and when he becomes older he suffers from loss of his beloved one and internal conflict. When these actions are put in the real life, they show that actions of any individual whether good or bad reflect the quality of the individual’s life. It is believed that this cycle of Samsara is
The director, Kim Ki – Duk portrays the boy to still be having some rough edges. He is excited by mischievous undertakings just as any other boy his age would be. Being a monk to be doesn’t change anything. However, as he continues staying in the monastery he is depicted to be maturing steadily. In summer for instance the boys turns 17 years and begins to show interest in the outside world when he gets aroused by contact with a girl who had visited for treatment (Gerner, 2008). He leaves the monastery but later on comes to pick up from where he had left in his training. The master monk begins by being very patient with his student. However, as time goes he begins to teach him lessons step by step through keen observance and correcting. He is then portrayed as possessing mysticism when he appears to have trailed the young monk to the shore without having a rowboat. He is everywhere to enable the boy learn the necessary skills. Ultimately he passes out in ‘winter’ after many years have passed by. He has accomplished his mission and leaves behind a mature adult …show more content…
Samsara is one of the Buddhism’s principles representing birth cycle, life, death, and rebirth. This principle is portrayed in several examples in the film. The seasonal changes from spring, summer, fall, and back to spring are used to represent the metaphor on the view of Buddhist in the life cycle of human beings. To elaborate this cycle properly, each season is represented by an animal. Spring is represented by a dog, summer is represented by Rooster, fall is represented by cat and winter is represented by snake (Jackson, 2010). The snake in the winter is used to show the old monk who committed suicide in order to free himself from worldly attachments. However, this monk is reincarnated in different forms. Buddhists believe that the theory Karma is the one responsible in driving Samsara. In Buddhism, karma is a basic theory standing for action or work. This theory explains that people’s actions in life determine where and how they will be reincarnated (Leidy, 2008). The young boy tortures defenseless frog, fish and snake and when he becomes older he suffers from loss of his beloved one and internal conflict. When these actions are put in the real life, they show that actions of any individual whether good or bad reflect the quality of the individual’s life. It is believed that this cycle of Samsara is