Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

Five seasons on a floating temple offer sharp lessons in life for the young boy apprenticed to an aging monk, in this ravishing Korean drama, a meditation on the cyclical nature of life.

As the boy grows to adulthood, each season brings new insight into the illusory nature of time and human aging. Sometimes the images are shocking: a man writes 'shut' on pieces of paper and glues them over his eyes, nose and mouth, a cat's tail is dipped in ink and used to pen a sutra, a baby crawls along the icy surface of the lake.

Yet the result is an exquisite morality tale, a visual feast that's infused with a Buddhist outlook on life, love, and man's place in the universe. Haunting, serene and beautiful.