A great movie from a great artist, painter and director. Watch also "The Isle", another interesting movie directed by Kim Ki-Duk. Last year in Locarno, 10 minutes of standing ovation after the projection of "Summer...".

Weak movie. Bad acting. Beautiful scenes but they don't make up for the negatives. I walked out.

Awesome and calm despite all the violent scenes. I'd only like someone to explain the meaning of painting sutras with cat's tail.

As each season progressed, my interest lessened along the way. Still, there are moments of stunning beauty in each vignet that it is a film woth seeing. The sum its parts is better than the whole though.

Outstanding cinematography! It's not clear if the new Master at the end is in any way related to the first one. And who are the woman and child at the end?

This is a beautiful and interesting movie. I am sure that my lack of a deep understanding of buddhism led to me not fully appreciating the symbolism and metaophor. But, I did appreciate this movie. The "stone in the little boys heart" metaphor was carried (literally) through the end. It truly is a film that should be experienced. peace.

A beautiful film that both mesmerizes and enchants. A rare film that rewards the viewer with a sense of peace, understanding, and interconnectedness. The Buddhist elements are fascination to contemplate. The cinematography, landscape, and music are all top notch. Seeing this film is like giving yourself a 2 hour vacation from the modern world.

If this phonily "religious" but actually lurid (yet wooden) fable wasn't so very visually beautiful (and it is), nobody would fall for its inch-deep pseudo-profundity. The characters are puppets, the dime store "wisdom" is malarkey ("lust leads to... murder!"). The viewer is not supposed to notice when the main character (who is understandably played by four different actors, two of whom are actually good) has a complete change of personality, mannerisms and appearance upon reaching full adulthood. The supposedly wise old monk leaves his hapless young student utterly unprepared to face the real world, but we are never meant to question his supposedly wise methods. Eventually, the kid makes good but several dead bodies line his path. Emblematic of Kim's approach, toward the end of the film, the director, not content with providing a heavy-handed reference to the character's childhood misdeeds, provides us with little flashbacks to make sure we get the point that he has been hitting us over the head with for the last five minutes. … Expand

Beautiful but frequently heavy-handed film jumped the shark for me when the guys started taping "shut" labels to their eyes (I was all like, 'huh?'), and subsequent events which I will keep to myself for the benefit of those who haven't seen the film. Also, did anyone else think the old master leaving a kung fu manual for the younger guy at the end was just an excuse for the director to show off his kung fu moves? I mean, what did that have to do with anything? Worth renting on a rainy day, maybe.… Expand

My reaction to this film is incredulity that it's been so highly praised by critics and Metacritic readers alike. This dichotomy reminds me of the Vietnamese film "Three Seasons" that was universally praised, but left me puzzled as to why. At least I wasn't the only one on this board who was so incredibly unimpressed.

Serene, beautiful, calm, intriguing.

Stunning cinematography. A spare, beautiful work of art.

The "Spring..." in "Spring, etc." is so unnervingly perfect in tone, it takes a few minutes to adjust to the great leap forward in time. As a part, it's greater than the whole, but the whole is pretty great, too. It contains an amazing depiction of suicide, and amazingly patient policemen. When the boy returns as a man, you sense the ghost of the boy (and the teen) infused in the surroundings. But, perhaps, the star of "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter..., and Spring," is the film's location, a lake, proving, you don't need CGI to create magic. This slow, but not boring movie from South Korea (co-financed by Germany) might restore your faith in cinema, as more than a time-killer. It's not perfect: Do ghosts have to breathe? But close enough. … Expand

If the whole of your knowledge of Buddhism comes from watching silly Richard Gere speeches about world peace at the Academy Awards, or seeing Caine nonviolently puch the crap out of bad guys, this achingly beautiful, exquisitely paced and photographed tone poem won't convert you, but it will provide an enchanting primer. Simply told but never simplistic, this is definitely an example of an "anti-summer" film...but don't be fooled: there's as much tension and dread generated over what happened to the fish, the frog and the snake as there is in a certain Spielberg classic over when and who the shark will attack. Don't let the fact that a lot of pain, suffering and tragedy occurs--sometimes the result of hard lessons NOT learned and sometimes just due to circumstance--blind you to the fact that the film also contains a lot of unexpected humor, both light and dark. (I especially liked the inappropriate ways in which the young hero tries to impress a pretty visitor, and later on, in the most dire of events, the new and unique use the old monk finds for his cat). So few films exist that make the viewer really want to be a better person (for me, this, House of Sand and Fog and, yes, The Passion of the Christ are recent examples) that it seems like nitpicking to criticize a certain plot point involving a conveniently acquired newspaper that informs someone of bad news, and I wish the director had lingered a little longer on some of his unforgettable season-ending shots rather than always cutting away so abruptly. But this lovely film is a wonderful experience for everybody...and if you argued with a loved one, cut somebody off in traffic en route to the theater, or STILL need to be told to turn your cell phone off inside, I'd say this is a movie you NEED to see.… Expand

Beautifully crafted Buddhist fable, better experienced than talked about.

Lets not go overboard - the movie is good without being amazing. The first spring was very nice.

Absolutely stunning and spiritual.

A terrific movie that explores the ages of man by following the lives of two men. Beautifully filmed, pitch perfect performances. Perhaps not for all tastes - it is a little slow and one of my less intelligent companions complained that she "just doesn't want to have to understand other cultures" - but I think that most fans of great filmmaking will be very pleased that they saw this. It is one of the few movies that I actually want to own on DVD for repeated viewings.… Collapse

For a film whose objective is to recount the intricacy of life, 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

A gentle treasure from the most unexpected buddhist.