Directed by Ki-duk Kim
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Starz)
A Buddhist monk raises a kid on his floating temple in the mountains of Korea. The kid is a brat with a mean streak, torturing animals in his spare time. As a teenager, he manages to seduce a girl who shows up at the temple seeking a cure for some illness. The "wise teacher" may have made a mistake in leaving the two of them alone so much. Not surprisingly, the ungrateful student abandons the teacher, taking his Buddha statue with him. Years later he returns, only to be arrested by cops for murdering his girlfriend and take him away to prison. Finally, as a middle aged man, he returns yet again. The old monk is dead, having committed self-immolation, so he begins a regiment of physical training in the dead of winter, mostly with no shirt. A masked woman appears with a baby. She drowns, so he takes over raising the kid, who also likes to torture animals. Beautifully filmed, but there is no one to root for, other than the poor animals. A cat, taken care of by the older monk, is unharmed, unless you count using its tail for calligraphy.
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