I loved the ending. It showed that the love he had for her was more than just some weird child fetish for young girls. His love was so strong it went beyond death. He wasn't just physically *beep* her. His soul was making real and true love to her. Personally, I found this far more romantic than some over-acted, over glamorized sex scene you'd find in every other cheap American romance film.
shareVery good comment, moneenerd.
sharei think the same, because thats the only true meaning of the ending, but, besides... there are a LOT of things to analyze about this hole film and KIN KIDUK mind to do this film. But, great review and nice film but a little weird considering all kiduk's films.
shareAlso far more romantic than some over-acted sex scene you'd find in every other cheap Korean/French/German/Azeri romance film. Truly an exception.
shareRight. Its one explanation for kidnapping her and helding her hostage for 10 years. It doesn't make his acts very noble, but the mix of an extreme crime and a weird romance certainly makes the movie interesting.
What really disturbed me though, was that so many people knew what he had done and that it took 10 years before anyone succeeded in helping her. And when someone finally did, it was by another guy who wanted the girl.
And when someone finally did, it was by another guy who wanted the girl.
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The movie was nice....until the end. The whole selfish thing about keeping the girl for 10 years to get married to her and killing himself after it was kinda pointless. But it was still a nice way of looking at the human psyche.
What made me hate the movie was the 'defloration' scene? It made no sense at all. Ok, his soul came back to make love to her...wtf? People are saying that it's symbolic and crap like that. But the ending was too much of a fantasy to be symbolic. The boat coming back to the boy, her having sex with a soul, the arrow hitting the bull's eye XD and finally the ship moving even when the engine was broken and finally sinking for no apparent reason (oh yeah, his soul did it blah blah)...
One of the worst endings to a movie.
I watched Samartian Girl and that was the opposite for me. I liked the ending more than the other parts of the movie. SG had a more symbolic ending with the dreams and her learning how to drive a car...
I also liked it up until the "defloration" scene. It lost me there. I'll just have to leave that section of the movie out of my memory for it, since I did enjoy the rest of it.
shareI couldn't agree with you more. That's the scene where the whole movie jumped the shark.
The old man diving into the water - yes. There's an earlier scene (I think after when the old man took the Ipod the boy had given her away) when she is playing with some fishing hooks - she shows twined hooks - and even puts a hook into her mouth.
But who is "fishing" and who is "caught" in this film? I can never figure out with Kim Ki-Duk's mute women whether he WISHES that women were seen and not heard - or whether he's just commenting that women in Korea have no "voice". In the same way, he suggests in this film that the old man is just as "caught" and a "victim" of his inappropriate obsession as the object of it (the mute girl) is. Is that male gaze wishful thinking?
Back to the old man diving into the water - as a symbolic death to a landed, "hooked", "fish" - it worked. But the whole graphic arrow thing really cut the legs out from under the visual metaphor for me, personally. Omit that one scene - then have the boat coming back to the boy - and the two going off - and the big boat sinking - okay. Works well for me.
But the whole arrow thing - nah. Too over-the-top.
I can't believe how unrealistic this film was. Does South Korea lack a coast guard? No police force? Social welfare? The people who came there to fish didn't care at all even though they seemed to know what was going on!!?
And how anyone can feel anything but disgust for that old madman is beyond me. He kidnapped and effectively destroyed a persons life. I can only hope that the film was a metaphor for something...
And I can't believe how some of you really expect the film to be 100% realistic. It's not a rule and if it's working for the director he doesn't have to keep to all "down-to-earth" things like coast guards, police, etc. I mean, it's more like he's telling an illustrated story, partially realistic and partially not, magical realism if I may call it that. Like in literature, short stories, think Marquez, Keret or Budnitz for example.
shareThis movie is totally awesome. I was changing channels and caught up right one this was one...beautiful beautiful movie, amazing music, great ending, movies likes these makes it al worth it!
The ending and the defloration' scene is something u can make it up for yourself...I personally don't believe that crap that his "soul" came back to *beep* her, but it was the entire combination of the young girl finally getting married, looking forward for it for years, and she just was sooo aroused after that very sensual ritual AND the amazing touching music he played for he, that all her sexuality the girl had for him exploded during a big climax while she was dreaming....it cán be possible...not ONLY mén have so called "wet dreams", a lot of girls do too...
The boat getting back to the bigger boat while she was sleeping was just coincidence I think, the water & waves pushed the boat back...
You see, you could all make it some logic explanations about it too, if u let ur mind work....
The ending sentence about the silence and strenght of a bow reflecting on old man's life was just perfect..."this will be the way of my life 'till I die..." amazing!
A must see!!
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"Luke, I am your mother!" "Nooooooo!" (Star Wars)
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IMO Kim Ki-Duk is one of the most overrated directors.
I have watched several of his films but honestly only "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" deserves the status of masterpiece.
The Bow is even worse than Samaria. The plot is ludicrous, the ending pathetic. I've read some people claiming the ending is a fine example of "surrealism". Seems that when some dudes can't understand something, they label it as "surreal".
No, The Bow doesn't contain a single second of surrealism. If you want to know what surrealism is, watch some film by Buñuel, Jodorowsky or Pasolini.
The Bow is just an exercise on how to sell oriental mysticism to western audiences eager of "new age" stuff. The director knows it and cash in that interest.
"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" was great because people around the world, from every religion, ethnicity, etc. could relate to the beautiful message of the eternal cycle of life. The Bow is just about a lusty old man apparently with some supernatural "powers" who deflowers a girl using his shamanic arts.
Ok now some people may talk about how deep and touching the movie is. I just didn't buy it. Sorry.
5/10. The score, the photography and the beautiful actress who played the girl, redeemed the movie to some extent.
Couldn't agree with you more. There are so many redeeming qualities, but in the end, I think Kim Ki-duk must be one sick MF, nonetheless extremely talented.
shareyou wrote:
I loved the ending. It showed that the love he had for her was more than just some weird child fetish for young girls. His love was so strong it went beyond death. He wasn't just physically *beep* her. His soul was making real and true love to her. Personally, I found this far more romantic than some over-acted, over glamorized sex scene you'd find in every other cheap American romance film.
Good lord. You actually think there's romance in this? The director is against child abuse and went out of his way to disgust the audience with it.
The man kidnapped a child and held her captive for ten years isolated on a boat, severely damaging the life of a human being, and you find romance in it?
Movie doesn't say she was kidnapped, no way of knowing the poster the young boy showed was actually hers as well.
I see the old man to be a a holy spirit or sea god, (explains the fortune telling, defloration scene, him diving into the sea, and boat without engine moving and the young girl hearing music at various points in the movie)
It must have saved the girl when she was young and then cared for her.
Her defloration was her coming of age and becoming a woman.
She arrived as a child and left as a woman with all her innocence as a human being left intact.
This is my personal interpretation, others have their own, thats what makes such movies great, they provide different interpretation,
it doesn't have to be 1+1=2 logic for a movie to be good.
Its a movie
She was 17, having sex at 17 isn't child rape/abuse/molestation.
This film does seem steeped in mythology, even Greek mythology. The image of the virgin with a drawn bow and arrow suggests Diana the Huntress. But I have the feeling that a great deal about Hwal will remain enigmatic.
There, daddy, do I get a gold star?