Acclaimed South Korean director Kim Ki-Duk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring)
delves back into morally cloudy water with this strange, ethereal, minimalist sea-set
piece, an exploration of rescue, responsibility, duty and proper adult boundaries that
relies heavily on expression, gestures and body language to tell its powerful
story.

The Bow centers on a crusty old man (Jeon Sung-Hwan) and a beautiful young girl
(Samaritan Girl’s Han Yeo-Reum) who live
on a fishing boat which has been floating at sea for over 10 years, the man
having plucked the little lost girl from the ocean at that time. Since then, the man has shown the girl how to fish, and cared for her in every way. But
the man plans to marry the girl on her 17th birthday, and counts the days down
on his calendar, buying scraps of fabric for her wedding dress in piecemeal
fashion and locking them away.

In addition to the girl and life on the ocean, the bearded old man
also cherishes only his bow, which he uses predominantly as a weapon to fight
off would-be admirers of his lovely shipmate. However, the bow is also a useful
device for shamanistic fortune telling, and as well creates wonderfully
enchanting music. The quiet couple’s peaceful and secluded life changes when a
teenage boy comes aboard, and the girl’s horizon and orientation are irrevocably
altered.

The set-up of The Bow is rather arbitrary, and Ki-Duk further ups the arthouse ante by trading in silences. He’s not interested in revealing back stories of his characters (hence their lack of names), or having them come to epiphanies about their situations. The story and setting are almost nipped from a fable of yore; it seems an excuse to play around in grey areas of devotion and subjugation. To that end, the acting and uniformity of tone and vision is what carries The Bow, but it’s certainly not for everyone, and certainly not for the end of a long day, which is the circumstance under which I first tried to watch the movie. If the alignment of interest and attention is right, though…

Housed in a regular Amray case, The Bow is presented in anamorphic widescreen in a very nice transfer, with Dolby digital
5.1 surround sound and DTS surround sound 5.1 audio tracks, both in the movie’s
native Korean. Naturally, English and Spanish subtitles are also available. The
big supplemental extra is a 35-minute making-of featurette, which interweaves subtitled
interviews with the director and his female star with on-set footage of them at
work. Other DVD special features consist of the movie’s original theatrical
trailer, a photo gallery and previews of other Tartan releases. To purchase the film via Amazon, click here. B- (Movie) B- (Disc)