[movie 2005] 3-iron 빈집

[rubie]

This is an old review for 3-Iron, more than a year ago to be exact but it explains quite thoroughly what the movie's all about.

2004/10/18 14:49 KST

Director Kim Ki-duk Succeeds in Communicating with '3-Iron'

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- The movie "3-Iron" has surpassed the achievements of all previous South Korean films.

Instead of relying on Korea's ethnic subjects or resorting to people's nostalgia for the good old days, as many recent Korean films have done to draw the attention of the world's critics and domestic moviegoers, director Kim Ki-duk has consistently dealt with a universal subject: the recovery of broken relationships and communication between oneself and others.

His latest film, "3-Iron," depicts a love story between a young wanderer who lives by temporarily moving into people's empty apartments, and a woman subjected to violence from her husband.

The relationship between the lead actor and actress is much like a creative pantomime, because the two speak almost no words in the entire film, a factor that largely helped Kim make the movie in only 13 days. Sun-hwa (Lee Seung-yeon) speaks only three lines: "Ah," "I love you" and "Have a meal." Kim appears to have grasped the technique of conveying more of a message by minimizing words. His winning of the best director award at the Venice Film Festival last month for the film shows how effective his technique is. (Think about why the South Korean musical "Nanta" is popular at home and abroad. It has no lines, only the highly amusing rhythm of percussion instruments.)

Kim succeeded in communicating with the world because he removed language barriers.

The movie's story is unpredictable and even funny, which is its strongest point. The wanderer Tae-seok (Jae Hee) takes a shower, does gardening, cleans clothes and fixes broken appliances in others' homes just as ordinary people do in their own place. His serious looks provide a lot of laughter at each moment.

There are many elements of Asian beauty in this film. One most conspicuous example is the empty "hanok" (traditional Korean house) Tae-seok and Sun-hwa break into and have their first kiss. A tea set on the living room table and red cushions put neatly on the home's wooden chairs are beautiful enough to draw the eyes of non-Asians. Also, the Arab-style background music flowing throughout the movie is very exotic. In addition, Tae-seok has the look of a Taoist monk when he trains himself to exceed human limits inside a prison cell where he was locked on charges of kidnapping Sun-hwa.

The film's Korean title, "Binjip," means "empty house." Empty apartments represent lonely and isolated people in this modern society, and Tae-seok represents a superhuman being who breaks into people's minds and enlivens them. He takes a picture of himself whenever he breaks into an empty house as his own kind of housewarming ceremony. A new house comes to have its life force only when people live inside.

Toward the latter part of the film, it slowly changes into a peculiar, Kim Ki-duk-style fantasy. Tae-seok surprises prison guards by climbing high on the wall of the prison cell and hiding out of view.

After being freed, he begins a weird cohabitation with Sun-hwa and her husband, like a ghost. Sun-hwa can see him, but her husband cannot. Director Kim hints that Tae-seok may be a nonexistent figure that Sun-hwa made in her fantasy to get over her miserable life.

Kim's films have always discomforted Korean viewers because of such elements as excessive violence, sexual abuse toward women, abnormal characters and a story that is difficult to understand. However, "3-Iron" has a minimum of such uneasy elements, so it is easier to watch. Kim has surely become milder after his two previous internationally acclaimed films, "Samaria" and "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring."

Kim devised an unexpected method to show violence in the film -- with a golf club and ball.

Tae-seok saves Sun-hwa from her husband by hitting golf balls at him with a three-iron. However, the husband later gets revenge on Tae-seok in exactly the same way, a boomerang effect of violence.

Asked in an interview about the meaning of the film's English title, "3-Iron," Kim said it is the most difficult of a set of nine golf clubs to handle, but is the most powerful once a golfer hits a ball with it. "I wanted to say there are various methods of violence. A white golf ball and silver iron, that's an attractive match," he said.

sshim@yna.co.kr

(END)

Source: Yonhap News

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20041018/...18144604EP.html

[rubie]

September 08, 2005

THREE IRON REGION ONE DVD REVIEW

Got it yesterday, watched it last night, and finished the review this morning. Three Iron hardly needs my introduction but I can't help myself. I love this film so much that it makes me happy just to tell other people about it. Kim Ki-Duk has crafted a cinematic fairytale of raw power out of a few simple characters, virtually no special effects and a story that leads in a different direction for everyone who sees it. Magical, intimate and yet filled with the mundane quality of everyday existance this is a film to treasure.

THREE IRON

Sony Pictures Classics

Easily one of the most haunting films I saw last year Three Iron is a picture I plan to force on almost everyone I know. As a reviewer I don't get sent everything I ask for and so I scrounge quite a bit- but only for the films I really, really want. Three Iron had I not received it would have been on the absolute top of that list even if, like most of Sony Classics barebones DVD releases, it didn’t have a subtitled director’s commentary.

The film has been reported about endlessly on Twitch making a review of the Region One DVD almost token- what's the point? The point is that whatever small percentage of you out there haven't experienced this film should go out of your way now. No excuse about not having a functional Region One copy. Three Iron is a symphony of silent grace, inner turmoil and ultimately obsession or love or both, the viewer will have to decide.

Tae-Suk is a young male drifter who breaks into people’s homes while they are away- but not to steal. He does laundry, small home repairs and cleans leaving each home and the lives of those return better for his visit. But his careful planning goes away when he inadvertently enters the home still occupied by Sun-hwa a young wife trapped in a loveless marriage with an abusive husband. Running off together to pursue Tae-Suk's unorthodox lifestyle until they find themselves unjustly accused of murder. With Tae-Suk boxed in by prison walls their relationship is put to a test that leads in directions not even the keenest filmgoer is liable to guess.

For a filmmaker known for gut wrenchingly violent and sexually graphic images Ki-Duk shows remarkable restraint here. Like his previous Spring Summer Winter Fall, the director offers his strongest narrative grasp through silence. Characters do not speak because they do not have to. They move instead, as if they are inside out, everything about their desires, dreams, hopes and fears is exposed leaving them to clearly react against one another. Three Iron is that rare film that while transcending genre can legitimately touch fans of horror, fantasy, drama, comedy and tragedy. Where you wind up will probably change with each viewing. I can't wait to experience them all.

Must go, much to review. But by all means please, please, please see this remarkable film.

Credits:

» Posted by Canfield at September 8, 2005 02:03 PM @ http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/003431.html

[rubie]

September 12, 2004

TIFF Report: 3 Iron Reviews

My last film of this block - Kim Ki Duk's 3 Iron - is a prime example of someone stumbling across something awe inspiring purely by accident. I was not planning on seeing this film. I've seen a few of Kim's earlier films and despite all the critical praise I have just never really connected with any of them. I've always had the impression that he was just an angry man looking to shock his audience more than anything else and have never once found any of his characters to be fully three dimensional. That said, he's the kind of director that I've always had the nagging suspicion that I should like and have always figured that one day he would produce something to win me over, so when Andrew decided that he was going to catch the screening of 3 Iron that came immediately behind The House of Flying Daggers I figured why not stay myself, too.

A good choice? Well, it's early yet and there are a lot of films I'm very much looking forward to but at the moment 3 Iron is the best of the festival as far as I'm concerned. Yes, something else could very well knock it off that perch but any film that wants to try has got a lot of work to do to ever get within spitting distance. 3 Iron is, quite simply, a flawless film. There is not a single thing wrong with it, nothing that could be improved, nothing that needs changing. I am shocked by how much I love this film.

A story told almost entirely in silence 3 Iron revolves around Tae-Suk, a young man we know virtually nothing about throughout the course of the film. Even by the end of the film we know only that he is college educated. Tae-Suk lives life as a drifter, distributing flyers throughout specific neighborhoods to see which ones are removed by home owners entering and exiting the houses. When he discovers an empty premise this way he picks the lock and takes up residence for a day at a time. Our initial impression is that he is a young thug - did he pay for the expensive motorcycle he rides through theft? - but it very quickly becomes apparent that he is actually a pure innocent who means no harm by his break ins. He does no damage whatsoever and actually leaves the homes in better condition than he found them in, taking the time to do their laundry, take care of their pets and fix anything that he finds broken. He seems content to simply fantasize briefly that these homes are his own, that he has a place in the world.

Tae-Suk's life changes permanently when he enters a home he believes is empty but is actually occupied by Sun-Hwa, a shell of woman utterly shattered by her abusive marriage. When Tae-Suk witnesses how Sun-Hwa is treated by her husband he intervenes and she chooses to leave with him and a quiet, tentative relationship slowly develops entirely without words.

3 Iron is filled with the same sense of magical realism that makes Last Life in the Universe such a potent viewing. As the film progresses there is a very real question about what is real and what is not which, in turn, raises issues about emotional reality versus physical reality. The film is entirely dependent on the performances of its two leads and both are simply stunning, conveying worlds of information with minute glances and gestures. It is beautifully shot, flawlessly edited and shockingly funny in places. Before seeing this I couldn't imagine ever laughing at a Kim Ki-Duk film at all, never mind laughing as often and as hard as I did in this. After building a career around anger and alienation Kim Ki-Duk has turned in a film about hope and innocence, and it just may prove to be his master work.

Credits & for full report:

» Posted by Todd at September 12, 2004 03:01 PM

@

http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/000071.html

[rubie]

September 12, 2004

-- movie shown at Toronto Film Festival 2004

Kim Ki Duk's 3 Iron was my third and probably final film of the day. Mostly because it was the third time in less than 24 hours that we were packed like cattle into the Ryerson theatre. My richard simmons needs time to return to it's robust and ample form. So sore. Korean cinema has made such headway over the past few years and with the success of Kim Ki Duk's 2003 film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring around the world I was looking to get my Korean 'on' at TIFF. 3 Iron is a movie about the possibility of friendships and love to happen in the most bizarre circumstances and it is a beautiful piece of work. Strong performances from lead and supporting cast. Then there is the beauty of communicating without words. The exchange of language, but through subtle looks and gestures. It might drive mad those that love to talk to hear themselves speak but for those with patience and a desire to see something off the mainstream I would highly recommend this film to anyone. Khum-sa-ham-nee-da Kim Ki Duk for a fantastic movie experience.

Credits:

» Posted by Mack at September 12, 2004 04:41 PM @ http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/000072.html

[Guest lil_azn_wannabe]

I saw that movie! And I thought it was great! Especially the ending ^_______-

It was sooo funny

[Guest jojo]

l love this movie....seen it 3x and it should not be a problem seeing it another time.

To me this is one of Kim Ki Du's best movie....least violence and least sexual.....in fact the love between Tae Suk and Sun Hwa seems so pure that l finds myself rooting for them especially so when we all know that Sun Hwa is a married woman and what they are doing is amounting to adultery and yet....it seems so pure and natural that they should be together.

KKD's is famous for his non-speaking movies, he is able to bring out the best from his leads....and in this movie, both Jae Hee and Lee Seung Yeon are great....they are able to bring across their feelings without uttering a single words (well LSY did speaks two sentences at the end of the movie). l find myself so captivated by the movie and there isn't any dull moment.....l am so anxious for this pair of lover that l keep asking myself...what will happen to them ? what's going to happen to them?.............?what can l say except that this is one good movie, good direction, good actors ....it is worth seeing.

l interpreted the ending as Tae Suk not really being there....it is Sun Hwa's way of dealing with her miserable existence that she cannot gets out.....and having Tae Suk there loving her makes life more bearabable........l wish l can think of a better way to interpret the ending. a much happier ending but l can't...nevertheless this is a movie worth watching and l know l will enjoy it even if l have to see it again.

[Guest June]

gossh... i like this movie very much and I really don’t know where to start!!!

Finished watching last night alone...at 2 am in the morning!!!

my bit review...

Basically about a weird relationship between a young man and a wife with unhappy life. From the beginning it looks like this man is an intruder, entering the houses when the owners are out on holiday, taking advantage of the empty houses and treating them like his own. Everything goes really well until he enter this luxury house. As usual, he does his normal cores without realizing the owner is there watching his every step. It turns out that the woman has an abusive husband and she later decided to leave with him. She followed him, accompanying him but gradually the bond starts to blossom between them.

The movie was almost in complete silence, with practically no spoken words between the leads, despite sluggish pace, I found myself completely glued. But I have to admit, I was really hoping for some words out of Jae hae mouth. There is a deep story in every scene and despite no verbal sounds, the body languages moves you.

The ending is pretty mind boggling; I don’t really know who is actually dreaming and who is not? What is real and what is not? I guess it is up viewers to interpret.

After reading the reviews above, now I know why it is called 3 irons.

My credit goes to the director who was able to make a great movie out of 13-days job! That is simply amazing.

[Guest lualm]

hi rubie, tnx for posting the various reviews on 3 iron, im so proud of jae hee's performance here, i believe this was the turning point of his career, you just have to give it to him, for giving justice to the role which i believe only a handful of korean actors in his generation can do...

[vi]

they showed this movie in germany this year...

BUT I MISSED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! TT__TT

damnit.......

[rubie]

hi rubie, tnx for posting the various reviews on 3 iron, im so proud of jae hee's performance here, i believe this was the turning point of his career, you just have to give it to him, for giving justice to the role which i believe only a handful of korean actors in his generation can do...

Hi lualm! *waves to jojo & June!*

It's my pleasure sharing the reviews here... there were so many positive feedback about the movie especially from the foreign reviews.

And I truly agree that Jae Hee was perfect in his role... I'm glad that someone recommended me this movie ... if not I would missed such a potential young acting talent like him.

[vi]

i watched it today and i like the ending ^^~

[Guest PaPerCraNe_021]

This movie is a MUST-SEE. Its distinction from other movies makes it a one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Jaehee's role in this is strange, but I liked it.

The whole movie is great. It's very intense, I think...

[Guest annababy]

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! THERE IS SUCH A DEEP MEANING IN THE MOVIE!!!! theres only a few dialogue in the movie~ the acting was awesome! shows korea's best side in film!!!!!!

[rubie]

3-Iron's masthead at Twitch's website

Source: http://www.twitchfilm.net/mastheads.php

[yuns]

It looks like such a beautiful film to seem. I'm planning to buy the dvd from my local Asian cd store.

[yuns]

^Read the reviews

[brownorange]

why is it call 3 iron?

[saharial]

thanks for posting all those great reviews on this. I saw it in the cinema last year and was completely hypnotised by the whole thing.

Jae hee is a superb actor for being able to express so much without saying a single word.

[Guest beauwiwi]

it's called 3 iron because the male lead is an incredible shot with the 3 iron...

but i didn't really connectwiththe movie. its a very deep movie and has some great messages and meaningful acting - lovely storyline too.

i think it will became greater with time but it wasnt really my type of movie. bit too weird really.

[Guest inez]

it's called 3 iron because the male lead is an incredible shot with the 3 iron...

but i didn't really connectwiththe movie. its a very deep movie and has some great messages and meaningful acting - lovely storyline too.

i think it will became greater with time but it wasnt really my type of movie. bit too weird really.

Yeah..wonder if Jae Hee is a good golf player too!!..powerful swings!!

One wierd movie indeed and it sort of grew on you as you watched it..

wish i had some dude like Jae Hee break into my house n does all the washings n stuff..

then come home to see him cleaning the kitchen in the buff...

Glad June likes this movie too!!..hi June!