Anyone found this yet?
I want this.
EDIT: LOL I only just noticed in terms of Buddhism that statement is the perfect example of dukkha
I've looked everywhere. Nothing. Nada. No torrents, no DVDs. Have you seen it?
shareYes I have seen it, it's very good, if you like this sort of thing.
I updated the Alternative titles for this title, it's also known as
"A Buddhist Ascetic Mandara"
It was released on VHS in Korea a long time ago. Really we need someone inside Korea to do some searching for the old VHS copy.
So how did you see it? At a festival?
shareI saw it in London around 1992 at the ICA cinema.
shareNice. Can you tell a little about it? Is it comparable to any other movie you've seen? I'm just really interested in this movie.
shareIt was a long time ago but IMHO....
It tries to show you that Zen-mind is in everything and can be achieved by anyone and it is all so clear and obvious once you have realised it (unlike for the people who are still striving to climb the highest mountain), it brings great joy & peace to the practitioner. For this reason I consider it to be the best "Buddhist monk film" I have ever seen.
I won't spoil the plot for you, but it is basically about a young (20s) monk who is naughty and goes out of the monastery to experience and revel in the night life in a Korean city. He makes friends with another monk who he takes under his wing and teaches him.
I've seen "why did bodhidharma..." & "Spring summer Winter.." and it's not really like those two except that it is set in Korea. I haven't seen "aje aje bara aje" so I can't compare it to that one.
If I had to say which other film I liked as much as this one it would be "The Last Temptation of Christ" but I'm not sure if that's really helpful or not.
I'm must have missed when you updated your post. Sounds very interesting. Did you like it better than "Bodhi-Dharma..." and "Spring, Summer,..."?
I found this link to watch the movie online, however, I'm think there might not be any English subtitles and you might have to pay for it. I would pay for this in a heartbeat but the text is in Korean...http://www.kmdb.or.kr/eng/mdpreview_list.asp?nation=K&p_dataid=035 37
I'm going to South Korea in a few months, so hopefully I'll be able to see it then, I can't wait.
Hi,
I did like it better than both of those films, yes.
Be careful of that site, they want you to register by email and give them your name, address, date of birth. Which to me is a bit suspicious in itself but.....Also when I tried to open one of the stills for Mandala there was some message in Korean, and a download file, I think that file has corrupted my computer. Reading about the problem I have, I think it was a confliction of software rather than malware/virus infection. I am currently having big difficulty trying to get my computer fixed.
Are you going to Korea for Kyol Che? That's a retreat stay in a Budhist temple, but you would know that if you are going for that reason.
When you are there try to find an old VHS copy of this film or a dvd release in the DVD & video shops. There is a picture of the VHS cover on wiki for you to print out and show the shopkeeper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala_(film)
This might interest you, I now want to see "hometown of the heart" aswell.
http://londonkoreanlinks.net/2009/05/13/ibff-and-korean-film/
The film is missing from IMDb. Was shown last month in London .
http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm45-59.html#hometown
You could also look for that film in Korea video shops, maybe by printing the screencaps from those 2 pages and this title gif in Korean
http://www.koreanfilm.org/hometown.gif
That site is part of the Korean Film Archive so I think it's legit.
I'm going to South Korea to teach english in a private school. I don't know what city I'll be going to yet, I'm kind of hoping for Seoul just for the access to the Korean films. I'll be sure to not leave South Korean without Mandala in my hands.
"Hometown of the Heart" does look good. I'm going to have to look for that one as well when I'm in South Korea. Another one of my must-see Korean Buddhist films that was on that link you gave me is Beyond the Mountain, have you seen that one?
Re: Beyond the Mountain
No I haven't seen it, another for my wishlist....Is it available on dvd? I can't find it.
Have a nice time in Korea, and if you do end up spending some time in Seoul, pop over to Hwa Gye Sa -google will find them for you(Kwan Um Zen)- a Buddhist Temple in North Seoul with some International - English speaking monks and nuns. You could go there for a couple of hours or weekly -if you end up living in Seoul- to attend the meditation sessions that I'm sure you will be welcome to attend.
However they will be closed whilst they do Kyol Che which lasts 90 days, Their website will say when it is Kyol Che time.
I am also very interested on this film, I heard about it from the OST by Tangerine Dream, amazing stuff!
I think I might be able to get this movie. I will check on this local place that rents old international VHS. I will rip it then torrent it but with the condition that we seed it, I am sure a lot of people will be very thankful for this. I will come back here in a few days and let you know how it went.
For now, WISH ME LUCK!
I'm guessing it did not go successfully?
shareThat's right. I actually called them last week to see if they found anything, and nothing yet. They say they will eventually find it, that they are on the lookout. I showed them what the movie is about (mostly from replies from this thread) and they became somewhat interested in it as well.
Torrent seems to not have anything either. I was thinking on contacting an embassy here or try to get in contact with some cultural representation or something like that.
Interesting that you posted this just now. I'm in South Korea right now and have plans to go to the Korean Film Archive possibly tomorrow. I'm sure they have it there. You can't rent films from there, but at least I will be able to view it. There are some video places around here that rent movies, so I'll see if they have it available too.
shareIf you get it on VHS and are not able to rip it to digital, we can arrange some thing so that you send it, I rip it, then I can send it back to you. I can cover shipping charges.
Best of luck finding it! and keep us updated.
If you get it on VHS and are not able to rip it to digital, we can arrange some thing so that you send it, I rip it, then I can send it back to you. I can cover shipping charges.
Best of luck finding it! and keep us updated.
Hi,
I would like to join you, as it were. I have been looking for this movie for a long time. I once saw it on Austrian TV, probably in the eighties, not very long after it was made. It's a great film, I believe it really conveys some authentic buddhist atmosphere, Zen atmosphere, or even Zen teachings.
So, I am willing to do whatever I could (e.g. pay some money) to actually get a copy of this movie. So if there IS anything happening, I will follow this board here or you can send me a private message. I am in Austria, so nowhere near Korea, but what happened to the person who is there?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Any luck finding this movie anyone?
shareUPDATE: Sorry it too so long. The reason is because I kept searching and searching for English subtitles but I couldn't find any anywhere. I didn't want to watch it until I found them, so today I just said forget it and decided to watch it. Of course, without any subtitles it was difficult. I can't form any opinion on it. The visuals were ok, but I was expecting something a little more.
So, I'm fairly certain that the ONLY way to watch this film is at a festival or you have to be here in Korea to watch it on the site that I linked or at the Korean Film Archive. For sure there is no DVD, and I haven't been able to find a VHS. Most places just have Im's more recent films. I watched it from the site that I linked at it cost 500 won, or about forty cents. I still have access to film for another 12 hours or so. I think the only way I would be able to bring it back to the States is to record it on my video camera. I could also have one of my Korean speaking co-workers watch the film and write down what they are saying, but I'm not so sure she would want to do that.
I also got to watch Beyond the Mountain...again with no subtitles .
I could watch Hometown of the Heart, but of course, with no subtitles. It's a bummer.
Cool that you got to watch it. Hope you enjoyed it even though you probably didn't understand it.
I wonder if some tech savvy people would know how to grab the streaming video and save it as a video file and then we could release it to the world, and someone could write a subtitle track for it.
Was it good quality? Was it full screen?
I hope my enthusiasm for this film does not lead to dissappointment in others when they finally see it.
It was good quality from what I remember. I think it was widescreen format too. I am no longer in Korea though, been back for about 6 months now. My templestay was a big disappointment. I signed up for a weekend stay and it turned out to be the same time a university was having a retreat with about thirty others. It wasn't quiet at all, expect during meditation. We had to skip some sessions because there were too many people. It would have been excellent had it not been for the university students going at the same time as me.
share
Have a nice time in Korea, and if you do end up spending some time in Seoul, pop over to Hwa Gye Sa
Wow, so interesting that you mentioned that place. When I first read this months ago I had no idea what it was. So a few weeks ago, I decided to do a templestay and chose this one without remembering that this is the temple that you mentioned. Have you been there? Was it for a templestay? share
Hi,
I have "stayed in that temple" but not for what you might call a "temple-stay" LOL
I stayed there for about a week in the run up to a "Kyol Che" but I didn't stay for the Kyol Che. A Kyol Che is a 90day retreat.
How long did you stay with them? Was it a silent stay (Kyol Che) or an informal stay?
Did you meet anyone like MuShim Sunim for example?
Oh I just remebered something cool! If you are still there, could you go back and ask Mu Shim Sunim if he still has the VHS tape of one of the female nuns from Hwa Gye Sa on the Korean TV documentary where she talks about meditating in the rain.... This would be from around 1994. I'd love to see that again.