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

Mary Martin
6-12th grade
Visual Arts
Winchester Thurston School
''Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring'', written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, is a mature yet simplistic film that delivers universally complex life lessons about spiritual journey. As suggested by the title, the film moves through 5 cyclical seasons while allowing the viewer to experience the interactions of two anonymous (yet universal) characters-an elderly monk and his young student. Each change of season is marked by the boy’s significant character transformation from innocent youth to an experienced old man. The film’s setting is an isolated a tiny monk monastery built on a floating wooden base in the center of a small lake in Korea. The monastery and lake are surrounded by a gorgeous landscape of lush trees, mountains, and a waterfall that change with each season. A small painted wooden boat allows the two dwellers access to the surrounding terrain that is a natural extension of the sacred monastery.
Each seasonal change brought about a shift in experiences and new lessons. Spring taught about the consequences of disrupting the natural order of living things. It also taught that harming other creatures would eventually cause harm to one’s own self. One must carry that burden in their hearts if they cause permanent injury to others. With summer came desire when a sick girl arrived seeking treatment. She and the boy together lose their innocence and self-control. Within and outside of the temple, subtly defined wall-less boundaries are easily crossed when one loses sight of the spiritual path. The elder teacher warned him by saying, “Lust awakens the desire to possess, which ends in the intent to murder.'' Autumn brought about the foretold destructive desires that led to the losses of life both in the sacred and secular realms. Lessons of meditation and penance are then taught to purify the spirit. Winter brought about lessons of self-awakening and repentance. Awareness of Buddha’s omnipotent presence was emphasized by placing Buddha at the highest point of the mountain range where visibility is at its height. Ultimately, Spring awakened once again with the cyclical pattern coming full circle but replaced this time with father as monk and son as student. Here, the son is seen playing with a turtle and this reminds one of the turtle’s mature capacity to withdraw inward in order to avoid external dangers. Quite seamlessly, the story ends where it begins-- just as the circle of life.
This R rated film is creatively crafted and packed with invaluable lessons, but I would NOT recommend screening the ENTIRE film to any grade level class. There are two very inappropriate scenes in the “Summer” vignette that include nudity. However, I would be comfortable showing the film to discuss Korean Buddhist teachings if the “Summer” segment was left out or simply fast forwarded through. With that specific editing in place, I think that middle or high school aged youth would benefit greatly from the film’s various lessons.

Mary Martin
6-12th grade
Visual Arts Instructor
Winchester Thurston School
''Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring'', written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, is a mature yet simplistic film that delivers universally complex life lessons about spiritual journey. As suggested by the title, the film moves through 5 cyclical seasons while allowing the viewer to experience the interactions of two anonymous (yet universal) characters-an elderly monk and his young student. Each change of season is marked by the boy’s significant character transformation from innocent youth to an experienced old man. The film’s setting is an isolated a tiny monk monastery built on a floating wooden base in the center of a small lake in Korea. The monastery and lake are surrounded by a gorgeous landscape of lush trees, mountains, and a waterfall that change with each season. A small painted wooden boat allows the two dwellers access to the surrounding terrain that is a natural extension of the sacred monastery.
Each seasonal change brought about a shift in experiences and new lessons. Spring taught about the consequences of disrupting the natural order of living things. It also taught that harming other creatures would eventually cause harm to one’s own self. One must carry that burden in their hearts if they cause permanent injury to others. With summer came desire when a sick girl arrived seeking treatment. She and the boy together lose their innocence and self-control. Within and outside of the temple, subtly defined wall-less boundaries are easily crossed when one loses sight of the spiritual path. The elder teacher warned him by saying, “Lust awakens the desire to possess, which ends in the intent to murder.'' Autumn brought about the foretold destructive desires that led to the losses of life both in the sacred and secular realms. Lessons of meditation and penance are then taught to purify the spirit. Winter brought about lessons of self-awakening and repentance. Awareness of Buddha’s omnipotent presence was emphasized by placing Buddha at the highest point of the mountain range where visibility is at its height. Ultimately, Spring awakened once again with the cyclical pattern coming full circle but replaced this time with father as monk and son as student. Here, the son is seen playing with a turtle and this reminds one of the turtle’s mature capacity to withdraw inward in order to avoid external dangers. Quite seamlessly, the story ends where it begins-- just as the circle of life.
This R rated film is creatively crafted and packed with invaluable lessons, but I would NOT recommend screening the ENTIRE film to any grade level class. There are two very inappropriate scenes in the “Summer” vignette that include nudity. However, I would be comfortable showing the film to discuss Korean Buddhist teachings if the “Summer” segment was left out or simply fast forwarded through. With that specific editing in place, I think that middle or high school aged youth would benefit greatly from the film’s various lessons.

Carla Garfield
Grade 6
Sewickley Academy
Synopsis
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, is apparently a complete departure by director Kim Ki Duk from his usual vice and violence formula. Filmed on Jusan Pond in the North Kyungsan Province in Korea, Spring, Summer… is instead a visually stunning tale quietly played on the stage of a one-room Buddhist monastery surrounded by water and inhabited by a monk and his mentee. This movie is so beautiful, it’s worth seeing for the cinematography alone. But despite its lovely, calm, and simple Buddhist demeanor, there are some dark elements.
Spring, Summer… is divided into five vignettes, representing the cycle of life, each told with the backdrop of a season, beginning with Spring. In this sequence, a monk in late middle life cares for a young boy of about 6 or 7, the Spring of his life. He watches the boy entertain himself for a day by tying stones to a fish, a frog, and then a snake. Rather than prevent the actions or scold the boy, instead the monk teaches him a lesson by tying a rock to the boy while he sleeps. When he awakes, the boy must find the creatures and untie the ropes he placed on them. If any of the creatures dies, the monk warns, he will feel the weight of his responsibility for their deaths for a long time to come. Sure enough, at least one of the creatures is dead, and the boy sobs in sorrow.
In the beginning of the Summer sequence, the boy, now 17, experiences sexual awakening in the form of a young woman of indeterminate mental strain, who is brought to the monastery to be healed. Once awakened, the now young man is understandably discontented with life in the monastery and makes plans to follow the young woman home. The prescient monk warns him that desire leads to possession and that possession leads to murder, but the young monk-in-training departs nonetheless.
In a metaphor for emotions, Fall explodes in color and temper. The young man returns as a man who has just murdered his wife, the girl he followed long ago, in a jealous rage. To help him work out his anger, the old monk scratches out Prajnaparamita heart sutra on the deck of the floating monastery and orders the man to carve the letters out completely. Meanwhile, detectives arrive to arrest the man, but wait for him to finish his cathartic task. Later and alone, the old monk commits suicide.
Years pass and it is Winter again. The man returns, presumably having served his time, and settles in at the monastery, living a physically and mentally disciplined existence. A woman comes in tears to donate her son to the monastery, and the cycle of life begins again.
Classroom Application
Though Spring, Summer… is rich with Buddhist imagery and symbolism, and would make for an interesting lesson for older students in trying to identify and explain them, this movie is far too sexual and dark for students below college age, except for the first Spring sequence, which would be perfect to show to any age. Even the youngest students would be able to appreciate the beautiful, pristine monastery and its surroundings and would understand the Buddhist and universal messages of this sequence. They would be eager to discuss and write about the old monk’s behavior modification decisions and the boy’s reactions to them. It would be possible to show the sequence and ask the students what makes the setting and the actions Buddhist, but I think it would be more effective if prior instruction was given and students were asked to identify the elements as they saw them.
Older students should be made aware that some parts of the movie do not accurately depict Buddhist beliefs (the suicide, for example). I, myself, would be obligated to point out the female objectification in the Summer seqence. But then again, anyone old enough to see this in a classroom is old enough to spot that himself/herself.