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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

Drama A wise old monk (Oh Young-soo) is master to a young student, and remains so throughout the changing seasons of the younger monks life. In springtime the young monk is a 5-year-old boy, in summer he is a teenager, in fall he is a 30-year-old man, and in winter he is in mid-life. The master and his student live in a tranquil house that floats in the middle of a pond hidden in a vast woodland. Paddling their row boat to the edge of the ... [+]
Author Review
United StatesUnited States
The New York Times
The New York Times
"Exquisitely simple (...) The film's lyrical plainness is the sign of a profound and sophisticated artistic sensibility"  POS
United StatesUnited States
rogerebert.com
rogerebert.com
"Rarely has a movie this simple moved me this deeply (...) We fall easily into its premise. We are moved and comforted by its story of timelessness, of the transcendence of the eternal (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"  POS
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The Guardian
The Guardian
"It is both serene and gripping, and carries a potent and mysterious charge in its visual poetry (...) A charming and rewarding film."  POS
United StatesUnited States
Variety
Variety
"A sublime, witty, gritty and transcendental movie (...) Pic’s major accomplishment is that it deals with abstract ideas (...) without exoticizing its subject or setting, or boring the audience"  POS
United StatesUnited States
New York Magazine
New York Magazine
"The impression this movie leaves is profound: Here is an artist who sees things whole."  POS
United StatesUnited States
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
"This superb 2003 feature forced me to revise my opinion of the director: wise, gentle, and simply constructed"  POS
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
BBC
BBC
"[Ki-duk] impressively fuses style and content. He doesn't judge the actions of his characters or rely on Buddhist sermonising to convey the film's ideas (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"  POS
United StatesUnited States
AV Club
AV Club
"Kim's beautifully staged morality play affirms that life itself is exquisitely impossible."  POS
United StatesUnited States
Slant
Slant
"Elementary, yes, but profoundly moving (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"  POS
United StatesUnited States
Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle
"Proof that movies don’t always have to be busy to entertain and enrich, this tale of life at a bucolic Korean monastery is at once profound and simple (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"  POS
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