The Bow (Hwal)








Director - Kim Ki-Duk

Genre - Drama/Romance


Korean arthouse maestro Kim Ki-Duk's works are never just films per se, they are art pieces and this one represents his aesthetics perfectly. The serenely ravishing images conjured by Kim here are just staggering. Still, a disquieting cloud of terror looms delicately over the placid surface, threatening to detonate at the slightest disturbance. Its tale is a timeless one of a naive and unworldly girl tempted by the beastly nature of modern civilization. Poignant and exquisitely earnest, this is the master in his element.

5 STARS!

All about The Bow (Hwal)

Comments

sitenoise said…
I couldn't find any justification for the old man here. Creepy metaphorical puppet characters without justification are hard to endure for the length of a film. Kim likes to put his viewers in that position but I think that's ALL he did in this one. The old man had a hard on. Big whoop.
November 2, 2008 at 12:34 PM
1minutefilmreview said…
We equate this film to a piece of art. As such, justifications concerning the characters are not needed for us.

Kim's movies have elements of performance art as well and do not conform to the norm. We love Kim for this particular aspect and will continue to support his artistic visions.
November 3, 2008 at 7:53 AM
Joel Bocko said…
I saw this spoken in Korean, with German subtitles (I don't speak either language). Luckily, the film was primarily visual so I didn't miss much.

I did think that the inclusion of all the logos, while obviously supposed to represent the guy's connections to the outside world, was distracting and marred the otherwise compelling visual schema.
November 11, 2008 at 10:31 AM
pumpki&mo said…
as a piece of art as you style --> 5 stars, as a film shot by ki-duk just 3,5 stars.

i love his way of to give his enthusiasts and viewers the highest amount of plunging (visual as well as psychologic and empathic).
November 15, 2008 at 10:13 AM
Anonymous said…
Hey, it was very nice to have on my blog in ...Romania, 1minutereview! :)

I like your quikie reviews, especially your rating style:
:lol:

Please take a look at ”The rest is silence”/ ”Restul e tăcere”, a romanian movie qualified for Golden Globe Awards (2009)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0839967/

and:
“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”, The Palme d’Or winning film about abortion in Ceausescu’s Romania (directed by Cristian Mungiu)

You’ll get the latest news from me if Nae Caranfil’s film will get the prize in january :)

GREETINGS FROM ROMANIA…
December 5, 2008 at 12:47 PM
1minutefilmreview said…
Nice to have you here too Andi. '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days' is impressive, will definitely check out 'The rest is silence'.
December 5, 2008 at 1:03 PM
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