In Class Reflective Essay

     The movie "Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter" are composed of 4 parts each getting its name from the seasons of the title. The part we watched was the Spring. An old monk lives in a temple located in the middle of a lake with a little boy monk. Their life looks so simple and plain since their location is completely blocked from the outside world. The main story of this part was about the boy being punished for his cruelty towards the animals with which he played. The monk treated the boy as exactly the same as the boy did the animals. This relatively simple and not adventurous type of movie, nevertheless, was special and impressive.

     First of all, the location of this movie gives a special image. I feel some kind of awe even when in a perfectly usual Buddhist temple like the ones in mountains with big size statues of Buddha and great monks in the past. The temple in this movie is even more awe-inspiring and apparently symbolizes the Buddhist morals; separation from the outside world. The temple has only one building and the there lives the monk and the boy. They have to use a boat to get out of the lake to reach the land where huge mountains surround the place. Moreover, there stand several doors both the inside and the outside of the building. Inside, the door stands even though there is no wall that makes the need of it. These doors also imply the separation and they strictly follow the lesson by always using the doors even though there is space left and right to them. The boy and the monk have to always share the boat when they transport themselves because one of them must be stuck into somewhere otherwise. This inconvenience implies that the their lives are shared and they have to go with each other. 

     Another specialty about this movie is the education by the old monk. A boy monk in a usual Buddhist temple learns from textbooks that contain Buddhist morale and from the old monks who indulged in the Buddhism for a long period of time and actually runs the temple. However, the boy in this film is not shown to be properly educated. He wakes up in the morning, not sure about breakfast, goes to mountain to pick herbs, comes back to the temple, plays with animals, and goes to bed. I was not sure how he will grow up to be a monk like the old monk now and protect the temple from evil spirits of the outside world. However, the boy was receiving education not quickly but empirically. The old monk's punishment after the boy treated the animals cruelly was surely harsh from my perspective and I will never do something like that to my children or my student if I have one. Anyway, the boy realized how bad and immoral he had been with the animals not by the old monk's nagging but actually looking at the consequences of his deeds. The boy cries with regrets from his true heart and probably he will never pain others either physically or mentally. This empirical learning, neither allegedly empirical nor through vicarious experiences, must have given the boy monk an strong lesson that would never leave his mind. Although the old monk would not be able to leave all his wisdom in a short period of time but as their lives go on together, the boy would certainly be another wise monk. 

     The "Spring" is only the first part of this movie and I really look forward to watching the remaining seasons.   But still, this movie seems to have portrayed the image and sentiments of Korea well with the natural scenery and the character set-up. I believe this work is qualified for being the most well known Korean movie.