Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)

I've known people using some soothing music for mediation.  Some even use a picture for focusing their mind.  I bet "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winder...and Spring" is also such a meditative material.  All you have to do is watch this movie which gives an immense pleasure of getting absorbed into the world it shows.

It shows the life of a boy, who lives in a secluded floating lake house along with a Buddhist monk.  The boy learns life lessons and undergoes various metamorphosis similar to the changing climates that forms the metaphor and the title.  The beauty is that life is a cycle that never ends.  Human beings may come and go, but their life remains the same.

Starting with the childish innocence and curiosity about the surroundings and his inherent cruelty as any human being, the boy moves to his adolescence.  He falls in love and leaves for a material world.  Later he comes back to his master as a refugee regretting his mistakes, only to be sent back to prison.  He returns after serving his term and finds the lake house empty.  After self-learning from his master's books, he accepts a child to be his student.  Its now clearly evident, how this little child would grow up.

The visuals induce trance like feeling and lingers in my mind even now.  The floating lake house surrounded by mountains is something of a pleasure to watch.  Its like getting back to nature from the material world. 

I am often inspired by the duty-driven life of animal world.  Although they have emotions, mostly they do what they are supposed to do without feeling bored.  They don't ask questions nor do they think about the meaning of life.  Yet, they seem to live their life to the fullest.  Human beings on the other hand, lost their ability to stay at present and take life as it goes.  We are often worried about the future or repenting on the past mistakes.  We are anxious to see what next and easily get bored.  This film shows many such animals who go about their life just like the old monk does.  The monk character represents every human being at their final stages. The only catch is, he had to undergo a lot of pain and cross many hurdles to get that stage of inner peace, which is the default option for animals. I can't help myself from getting jealous of them.