3 Iron

3 Iron (Bin-jip)

Release Date : 2005
Director : Kim Ki Duk
Writer : Kim Ki Duk

Cast:
Jae Hee ... Tae Suk
Lee Seong Yun ... Sun Hwa



Reviewed By : Tomea

Poetic is what I would call this film. It has such poignant quality to it. It reminds me of the dream like state of Last Life in the Universe, yet it retains its own uniqueness. Dialogue was not essential between the two characters. It would have lessen the tension in the film if it did. Director Kim Ki Duk understood perfectly that what was said was beautifully captured by the lens, and in doing so he let the audience ease into the film efortlessly.

Tae-suk (Jae Hee) is a jobless college-educated mute (by choice) vagrant that breaks into vacationing people's homes and treats himself to the bear essentials - food, a place to sleep and shower - and in return he fixes broken appliances, cleans the house and does their laundry. He also takes pictures of himself along portraits of the owner's home. It's as if he wants to ingrain himself temporarily in their lives. He does not stay long and moves around quite often. He meets Sun Hwa (Lee Seong Yun), a silent, meek and physically abused housewife, in one of his break-ins. And this meeting is the catalyst to an unlikely and emotionally wrenching love story.

I've been a fan of Jae Hee since Delightful Girl Cheunyang[??]. He isn't overtly handsome like other korean actors and he isn't the most charismatic, yet he has the most intense expression when he keeps still and let his eyes talk. It's very obvious in this film that director Kim Ki Duk made use of Jae Hee's expressive facial expressions, particularly his eyes. Lee Seong Yun was superb in this film. She creates an effortless and almost serene quality in the film. She weaves a magical spell from the beginning with her quite rage towards her husband to her triumphant and vocal statement of love to Tae-suk.

Director Kim Ki Duk abandons his usual style of sweeping paronamic shots and themes of lust and violence. This film was tame compared to his previous films, yet this was the most stunning out of all of them. I've seen this film 3 times and each time I find something new to marvel at. I already miss the characters, and I would probably watch the film again after writing this. I akin this film to Wong Kar Wai's wonderful masterpieces: In the Mood for Love and 2046. I had a similar reaction. I could not forget about the characters and watched the film over and over again and fell in love every damn time.



Reviewed By : eamiru

3-iron is the quietest movie I ever watched. It is a story about this homeless – Tae-suk –. His daily routine involves temporarily staying in vacant houses and apartments. He never steals nor damages his unknowing hosts’ homes; rather, he is like a kind ghost, sleeping in other people’s beds, eating a little food out of strangers’ fridges and repaying their unintended hospitality by doing the laundry or making small repairs.

Sun-hwa was once a beautiful model, but she has withered living with her abusive husband, who keeps he imprisoned in their affluent, expensively decorated house. Tae-suk and Sun-hwa are bound by fate to cross their paths. They finally meet when Tae-suk breaks into Sun-hwa’s house and they instantly recognize the similarity of their souls, finding themselves unable to separate.

The title, 3-iron refers to the golf club that is least used in the sport, but plays a leading role in a stor about the transcendental power of romance. This movie has win the Venice Film Festival – Special Director’s Award – and Valladolid Int’l Film Festival – Best Film, KIM Ki-duk –.

And this movie is worth watching when you want to see how LEE Seung-yeon and JAE Hee act ‘quietly’ because it is very difficult and very seldom to see this kind of movie in any countries. Thumbs Up!!