A meditative, visually composed spiritual fable about cycles of innocence, desire, guilt, and redemption. Its quiet pacing and symbolic structure won’t suit everyone, but for viewers open to contemplative cinema it’s deeply rewarding.
91% ★★★★★ (156,692)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama
2003 · 1h 43m · ★ 91% (156.7K)
What you like, others will also like.
Director: Kim Ki-duk
Starring: Oh Young-soo, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Young-min
Overview
An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.
Oh Young-soo, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Young-min, Seo Jae-kyeong, Kim Jong-ho, Ha Yeo-jin, Kim Jung-young, Ji Dae-han, Choe Min, Park Ji-a, Song Min-young
Curator Review
Verdict
A meditative, visually composed spiritual fable about cycles of innocence, desire, guilt, and redemption. Its quiet pacing and symbolic structure won’t suit everyone, but for viewers open to contemplative cinema it’s deeply rewarding.
Best for
fans of slow cinema and visual storytelling
viewers interested in Buddhist or spiritual themes
people who like nature-driven, allegorical dramas
audiences drawn to quiet, reflective films about moral growth
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy or fast-moving drama
you dislike symbolism and repetition
you’re sensitive to animal cruelty or harsh moral imagery
you prefer emotionally direct, dialogue-driven storytelling
Overview
Set on a secluded floating temple, this film unfolds as a series of seasons in a human life: childhood, desire, guilt, middle age, and old age. Its power comes from restraint. Rather than explaining its ideas, it lets landscape, ritual, and gesture carry the meaning, turning the lake and mountains into a kind of spiritual clock.
Worth noting
The film is at its best when it treats moral development as something cyclical rather than tidy. Each chapter echoes the last, but with deeper consequences, and the visual simplicity gives the story a fable-like clarity. It’s a beautiful example of cinema using silence and composition as meaning, not decoration.
Bottom line
That said, its symbolism is blunt at times, and some viewers may find the emotional and ethical framework dated or abrasive. It’s not a universally “easy” watch, but it’s a memorable one: austere, haunting, and quietly transcendent for the right audience.
Top Letterboxd reviews
DirkH (5★) · 909 likes
Art = Contemplation = Ideas = Thought = Creation = Energy = Vitality = Life. Art = Life An equation rarely solved better than in this film.
Larry (5★) · 742 likes
Didn't you know beforehand how the world of men is? Sometimes we have to let go of the things we like. What you like, others will also like. Deep in the foothills of rural South Korea, off a winding dirt road exists a path. You might miss it if you werent looking. Walking this path takes you down into a vast lush valley where a small lake rests encircled by steep jungle and rocky cliffs. Silently bobbing in the middle… more
Ethan Colburn (4★) · 596 likes
Can someone please untie this rock from my back? It's getting pretty heavy.
nick atkinson (0.5★) · 553 likes
I know that often you can separate the ‘art’ (if you can call it that) from the artist, but there is always a line to be crossed where the two become inseparable. That line will be different for everyone, but I think I can safely say that a rapist making movies about rape while raping the actresses involved should spectacularly pass the line for most people. Maybe it would be easier to separate Kim Ki-duk from his films if they
Cormac 👑 (5★) · 438 likes
Spring. A baby is born. Life. He lives in a floating monastery in the middle of a lake. Amongst trees of centuries old and mountain-tops, buried deep in leafy-green foliage. Nature. The young boy lives with an older man. They’re monks. Buddhist monks. Faith. The boy ties a stone to a frog. To a fish. To a snake. He laughs, watching on with glee as they struggle with their new-found burdens. The elder monk returns the favour, tying a boulder