3-Iron

Kim Ki-Duk's 3-Iron (2004) is a step away from his prior films. This step already began with his brilliant Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (2003), and the step is completely realised in 3-Iron. While his older films were filled with cruel violence and other controversial topics, 3-Iron is almost the opposite. While it has a few outbursts of violence, it is a lot sweeter film because these outbursts are well handled and used for a better purpose. At its core, 3-Iron is the story of a man (Hyun-kyoon Lee) who goes around sticking ads to doors. This is only a way to identify the houses the residents of which are elsewhere so that he can spend a night there. He doesnt steal anything and only uses the houses fairly - he even fixes things, washes clothes of the residents and so on: he's not a bad person by any means. The film's real tension comes up when a woman (Seung-yeon Lee) befriends him and accompanies him during these "intrusions".

You can see the film as a piece of social criticism. Kim asks unnerving questions in the film. Is our "property" as important as it seems today? What do we consider our property? There are different reactions to the intrusions in the film - that is if it is discovered that someone really has been or is in the house. The man faces violence on a few occasions and it is luckily not used simple-mindedly. As the two main characters intrude different apartments, they learn a lot about the lives of the residents. They do not directly affect their lives, but there are consequences, of course. There is a husband who treates her wife like an inanimate object that does everything he wants. Is she really his property like he thinks? The conclusion for the conflict that arouses from this problem is fascinating.

As you might expect, these intrusions are not completely without risk in the long run. Where other storytellers and filmmakers would have ended their work, Kim pushes forward to a great climax. The film takes a magical turn that might put some people off because it seems a little weird at first. Yet, it is the only logical way to continue the story, and thus handle the themes in a lot better way.

Kim shows his ability to be a great storyteller with this film, but how is his form? He proves that he is not a fool with that either. His causious use of camera is a fine way to capture the story. The film proceeds at a calm pace yet it never appears to be slow. His editing is fine, but not great. His compositions are interesting to look at  and they accompany the camera movement well. Kim did the right choice by sticking to only one song for the whole film. It is used during various moments in the film, the characters actually listen to it most of the time. It captures the sweet feeling of yearning and love as the relationship between the characters develops.

The main characters never speak - the woman has only one line that has a great impact on the viewer. The woman also screams once in place of dialogue and that scream is like a caged animal's call for help, which totally fits the scene. Hyun-kyoon Lee and Seung-yeon Lee are both fantastic actors. They brilliantly capture the inner sides of the characters through body language and facial expressions. I believe it is impossible for the viewer not to care for the characters due to the magnificent performances.

In overall, 3-Iron is an even and gorgeous film that can easily win anyone's heart. It doesnt have major flaws, but it is by no means a perfect film. It could be further improved, but works well enough as it is.

Score: 9 out of 10