Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… Spring: A Film, Cinematography and Sound/Music Review

     Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…Spring is one of the most unique films I have ever seen.  A 2003 South Korean drama by director Kim Ki-Duk, this film follows the seasons of the life of a Buddhist monk and his apprentice and shows how these seasons cycle.  This film was produced by the following companies and got an R rating; Korea Pictures, LJ Film, Pandora Filmproduktion, Cineclick Asia, Cinesoul, Mirae Asset Capital, Muhan Investment.  For the 103 minutes of this film there is very little dialogue but the cinematography and sound make sure the audience is enchanted for the whole duration.  This film is great for those who like a good drama and deep thought, but if your thing is action, adventure and explosions I would recommend you pass on this one.  With a cast including Oh Yeong-su, Kim Jogn-ho and the director himself Kim Ki-Duk the acting is spectacular even with its low amount of dialogue.  I give this movie a rating of 7.5/10 because even though it is a masterpiece, it is not for everybody. 

     This film follows the life of an old Buddhist monk (Oh Yeong-Su) living on a floating temple in the middle of a lake accompanied by a young boy, his apprentice.  The film uses the story of these two in order to outline the seasons of life and its cycle.  We begin with the spring of life (the beginning) where the young boy (Kim Jong-ho) is living with in the temple with his master.  The child seems full of innocence until an incident including a fish, a frog and a snake show us that here might be a deeper torment to the child than we can see.  After this incident the movie fast forward a few years into the summer of life when the boy turns into a young man (Seo Jae-Kyeong).  We see a young woman who comes to live at the temple due to sickness, she is the first human contact the young monk has had other than his master; by extension she is the first woman the young monk has ever seen.  After battling his faith and sexuality the monk finally seems to reach a decision and so love ensues.  When the girl is finally cured and has to leave the temple the young monk has a decision to make whether to leave or stay.  After his decision we move on to the fall of life where we meet the adult monk (Kim Young-min).  This stage is named appropriately since a horrible decision made by the apprentice has brought him back to the temple in a run.  He is taken in by the old master and made to repent through Buddhist teaching; however he cannot escape his punishment.  Soon two detectives (Ji Dae-Han and Choi Min) come to take him away, but not without allowing him to finish his atonement first.  Upon the end of fall we see the end of the cycle when the old master reaching the end of his life starts his own funeral rights as if it was the most natural thing in the world.  The scene is peaceful yet morbid and we are left with no human inhabitants in the temple and so winter begins.  During the winter of life we meet the old monk who (Kim Ki-Duk) who has come back to the temple after serving his time.  He now takes the place of his old master and pays his respects to him.  At the end of winter we see a horrid scene as a child is abandoned at the temple by his mother, who does not meet a happy end in the film.  This child is not left as an apprentice to the old monk and so the new spring start and the cycle of life finally start back up. 

     This film is definitely simplistic in terms of aesthetics and production; however it is very deep when it comes to meaning and philosophy.  Even though most of the movie is masterfully made what most stands out to help its deep meaning are the use of sound and cinematography.  The cinematography of this film, Headed by Baek Dong-Hyeon, was expertly used to not only show the comparison between humans and nature but also to show us the inner workings of the minds of the characters with very little dialogue.  Different shots such as long shots, aerial shots and scenic shots are used to show us the location of the film which seems like a dreamland detached from the horrors of modern society.  These shots, when they include people, make the vastness of nature engulf the characters which highlights their small role in the greater scheme of nature.  Cinematography is also used to supplement the low amount of dialogue in the film by helping emphasize the inner thoughts of the characters.  Often close ups, reaction shots and Point of View (POV) shots are used to emphasize surprise, horror and even sorrow.  These moments, such as the use of a POV shot when the mother is abandoning the baby, transports the viewer into that moment of sadness and horror by immersing us into the film.  In a similar fashion sound in the film (along with what little music there is) is used in order to emphasize feeling and help set the mood for the different scenes.  Even though the film has little dialogue there is never an awkward silence due to the expertly mixed ambient sounds; these are exceptional in realism with attention to detail where the wind is louder on top of a hill than it is in the forest.  These sounds along with a few chosen music scores remind us of the location of the scene and also set a mood with a silent winter becoming very ominous or a loud river adding to the excitement of young love.  The sound production headed by Konken Stephen and Ku Bon-Seung was spectacular and help made the movie such a hit.  These things made the film but other aspects surely helped.  The lack of dialogue present in Kim Ki-Duk’s film would normally hurt most pieces; however it is used here in order to enhance the more insightful aspects of the film.  The costumes in the film are also brilliantly simple and reflect the state of the characters.  The costume for the monks and those in the temple are simple and show the peace and simplicity of life, however for those touched by the outside world the clothes are more complex.  Finally the props used in the film when there are any help situate the viewer and tell the story.  Props like the stone on the child help visualize the weight on the heart because of what he did to the animals while other props such as the different pets serve more practical purposes such as visualizing the passage of time by the changing of animals.  These different aspects help make the film a hit even though its plot and nature make it specific to certain audiences.

     The actors in this work do a great job of expressing the film as well as providing fluidity.  Even though the apprentice monk is played by four different actors in different stages of life, they do an amazing job of providing a fluid character that changes with the years but remains easily identified.  On the other side Oh Yeong-Su who plays the old master plays the old archetype of the wise mentor to the T.  His acting provides a constant throughout the changing times and his demeanor is unfazed at every change in situation.  The acting in this film is superb and touches upon the deepest feelings in human nature.

     Overall this film is excellent in quality and composition; it exhibits what is expected of a top rank film in both sound and cinematography.  However due to the nature of both the film and the plot it is not a film that will be appreciated by everyone.  It possesses a very limited audience which is dwindling in our current age where people look for more entertainment than substance in film.  Because of this I have to give Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… Spring a rating of 7.5/10.  

Cinema Paradiso (1988): A Film and Cinematography Review

              Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 Italian drama film by director Giuseppe Tornatore.  The film is the story about a Film Director recalling his life from his childhood forward, and all the different events that led him to this point of his life.  The film includes a number of classic stars from the time period such as; Phillipe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale and Antonella Atilli.  The film being a classic from the eighties is simple in its effects and editing, however the quality of the cinematography, script and acting makes this film memorable and full of emotion.  From a scale of ten stars I give this film a score of nine which it deserves due to the emotion it is able to convey with the mere use of a camera.

                A big time director receives a message from his mother, after many tries, that an old friend from his childhood has recently passed away and that his funeral will be the following day.  The story does not take place in recent time but instead is told in a flashback format with Salvatore (the main character) lying in his bed at night.  The story is that of his life and his relationship with Alfredo (the recently diseased friend) who was his inspiration to get into the art of filmmaking.  The film follows their interaction from the time that Salvatore is a little squirt who bugs Alfredo all day and gets into trouble, to the time when they become friends and Alfredo teaches him how to run the projection booth and even into Salvatore’s teenage years when he leaves the small town and upon returning his old friend urges him to chase his dreams and make something of himself.  Cinema Paradiso is a highly emotional story of how one person can influence our lives at a deeper level than we are even aware of.

                This film is full of things that make it great; from the script to the score of the music and even the acting is far beyond reproach.  However there is one thing that makes Cinema Paradiso rise above all other films of the time and that is its simple use of cinematography in order to drive what the viewer sees, thinks and feels in the two hours of the film.  The film relies in the use of the camera in order to guide the viewer through the story instead of cheesy effects, which in the eighties were not as advance as today. Though the angle, movement and even omission of things in the frame of the shot the film creates an atmosphere where the audience can sense all the feelings of the scene even without dialogue.  One of the things that is apparent from the begging of this film is the introduction of new characters to the plot through the slow zooming out of the camera, we can hear the voices of the characters before we can actually see them.  This is used from the beginning when Salvatore’s mother is trying to call him and we slowly zoom out from the view of the window, we get to hear the age and strain of this woman’s voice long before we get to see her, but we can conclude what kind of character she really is because of this.  The film also does a magnificent job of using close up shots in order to let us see into what is going on in a character’s mind.  When Salvatore first hears of the death of Alfredo the camera slowly zooms in into his face.  Even though there is no dialogue in this scene, we can catch small things in his facial expression due to the closeness of the camera.  This way we can conclude from his shifting eyes and grim expression that Salvatore is deep in thought and sadness when thinking about this person from his past who we are yet to meet and so we can conclude that Alfredo was very important to him.  Even though the camera is instrumental to the audience learning what is going on inside a character it is also used for other purposes, often during the time where the main character is a child it is used to show the relationships of power in the town.  Very often strong characters such as the priest, his mother, the teacher and even Alfredo will be shown from a low angle and over the shoulder or from the point of view of Salvatore.  These shots get the audience into the point of view of the protagonist and show the relations that he has with these other people and how, to him, they seem to hold a lot more power than he does.  Finally during the duration of the film the cinematography is essential to contrast the feeling of the surroundings with those of the protagonist.  During much of the film long shots and narrow focus are used in order to get us to pay attention to a harsh contrast.  For example during the new year’s scene we get a shot of Salvatore who is looking rather grimm however as this slowly zooms out into a long shot of the street we start to see people celebrating and fireworks going up into the air, this comparison of happiness and sadness makes us feel even more for the main character and his current pain.  Because of these and other reasons cinematography is an essential part of Cinema Paradiso which makes it stand out among the films of its time.

                The stars of Cinema Paradiso really do a great job or working with the cameras and the director to convey the feeling of the film.  Their acting is far beyond reproach and they can convey feelings to the audience without the use of words and instead rely heavily on their expressions and the use of the camera.  Out of all of the actors and actresses Philippe Noiret deserves a special mention.  His role as Alfredo is not only touching and completely convincing, but he stands out in the minds of all the viewers as that role model that we all have or want.  Noiret does a great job of being that old, scruffy man that everyone in the neighborhood finds just a bit strange but at the same time draw us into his character and makes us love Alfredo because in the inside he is just an old romantic with a soft spot for the protagonist who we can even see as being his son.  For his role Noiret deserves a special mention in this review.

                In my overall opinion of Cinema Paradiso I must say that I normally do have difficulty watching older films because, like most of us born into the age of technology, I expect good effects and the latest CGI.  However this film was not hard to watch at all, instead it was hard to look away from.  The brilliant use of the camera, the amazing acting and the decision to stay away from cheesy effects that at the time were the hot thing makes this film timeless.  It is easy to watch because the story and camera ability don’ have a time period and will be forever appreciated by audiences of all ages.  Cinema Paradiso in my book gets an nine out of ten rating for captivating an audience even after twenty six years on the screens.