Kim Ki-duk's 3-IRON

In Kim Ki-duk's enchanting 11th feature, 3-Iron (Bin-Jip), we first meet Tae-suk (Jae Hee), a handsome young man wandering around the city on his motorcycle pinning flyers on doors in various neighborhoods. After a few days he checks on those flyers to see if they’ve been removed. If not, he breaks in concluding that the owner is absent and takes residence, although, not for the purpose of stealing or destroying the property; instead, for eating their food and using their beds, he performs a few chores in compensation like laundry, cleaning, and taking care of their pets.

Tae-suk eventually ends up in a more lavish house owned by a businessman, and discovers that a young woman is there. The woman named Sun-hwa (Lee Seung-yun), a former model, is battered and bruised, results of her being married to an abusive husband and she's imprisoned in her own house. Sun-hwa chooses to leave with the intruder, abandoning her husband, and then the two drifters embark on a unique journey while forming a beautiful relationship as they go from one place to another without ever speaking a word to each other. The husband eventually catches up to them and the authorities also chime in. Sun-hwa is returned to the monster while Tae-suk is thrown in another dwelling, but this is not the end.

Director Kim Ki-duk is one of the most unique and fascinating figures in World cinema. It's remarkable that a man who has no formal training in film can orchestrate extraordinary sequences of subliminally evocative moods and tones; something he does by coalescing his narratives with symbolistic imagery - easier said than done but one can see that throughout his oeuvre. Due to the fact that he grew up in a less fortunate household, Kim has always based his films on the poor, the marginalized, the outsiders of Korean society - far away from the middle-class suburbanites one can find roaming in the films of his more popular compatriots like Hong Sang-soo, Lee Chang-dong, and Jang Sun-woo. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Kim plays up to a certain audience. Kim has a Fassbinderian quality of wounding up both the liberals and the conservatives in his country; to him everyone contributes to the miseries his characters have to endure so why limit the critique to certain factions of society?

Kim Ki-duk made his debut with Crocodile in 1996, and its sadistic central relationship is one Kim has revisited in many subsequent films. But it was the notorious The Isle (2000) which brought him much attention, albeit mostly for the wrong reasons. At the premiere in Venice, the film had audience members throwing up in the aisles, and reportedly, one Italian critic literally passed out during the screening. There were scenes involving a vagina and a fishhook, but what made them indigestible was their motoring logic as they made you think about the extremities of despair in human behavior; something I can't say about the mind-numbing, fetishistic violence seen with the likes of Takashi Miike and Gaspar Noé. Kim’s first Korean success came in 2002 with Bad Guy (a film just recently released in the U.S.) but Kim maintained that it was because of the star, Cho Jae-Hyun, who became famous during that time so it wasn’t his fault!

A more mature, more confident Kim can be located in his 2003 hit Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring, and similar to that film, in 3-Iron, Kim has relied upon his visuals to advance his narrative. The beautifully orchestrated shots of the two protagonists and the various houses they enter have their own distinct poetry. Kim has now pushed the sub-genre of modern alienation to an extreme, unlike anyone else has ever done before and now, he has asked his characters to go beyond what is real and into an imaginative state where they can find eternal peace and happiness. What a year he had in 2004. After winning the "Silver Bear" (Best Director) at Berlin for Samaria (another feature which will release in the U.S. shortly), he went on to win the "Silver Lion" (Best Director) at Venice for 3-Iron. I'm not aware of anyone who has accomplished that before.

3-Iron (reference for a golf club used by the characters in the film - but not to play golf) is shocking, hilarious, and it reaches a metaphysical state near the end which has to be seen to be believed. The themes of love and loss of Innocence are omnipresent in his films, but here Kim’s passion is transformed into something more, something magical. "We are all empty houses. Waiting for someone. To open the lock and set us free." (Kim Ki-duk)

3-IRON - Grade: A-

*Sony Pictures will open the film today in NY and LA. It will expand to other cities shortly.

*Kim Ki-duk's latest film (yup, he's already made another one) called The Bow is an official selection for Cannes next month (Un Certain Regard). This is the first time a Kim film is being presented at Cannes.

No more I can add to Arsaib4's excellent review and comments except to say this is one of the best and the most unique and enigmatic film I have had the privilege of seeing this year.

The filming stats are also impressive, the screenplay written in one month, the filming took 16 days and the editing was completed in 10 days, outstanding.

Cheers Trev.

I don't think I deserve it but thanks, Trevor; you're too kind. Also, thanks for the filming stats. Was the film released theatrically in the U.K.?

"Was the film released theatrically in the U.K.?"

Not yet but I'm hoping, I bought the standard region 3 DVD and liked the film so much that I then bought the very nicely presented 2 disc collectors edition, even so they still cost less than the official UK DVD will.

Cheers Trev.

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Originally posted by trevor826
Not yet but I'm hoping, I bought the standard region 3 DVD and liked the film so much that I then bought the very nicely presented 2 disc collectors edition, even so they still cost less than the official UK DVD will.

Cheers Trev.

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I'd certainly be interested in the special edition. What are some of the extras?

This seems to have just opened in NYC and is getting good reviews. I want to see it. It was shot in a great hurry I believe, not always a bad idea.

Yeah, Kim is slowly becoming famous for his expeditious nature. I hope you get the chance to see the film. There are many worthy options out there right now (pleasantly surprising for this time of the year).

There are many worthy options out there right now (pleasantly surprising for this time of the year).

Where, we're drowning in trash here. It's actually better staying in and watching TV at the moment. Next week we have 9 films from Iran and 2 documentaries, the cinemas can't compete with that.

Cheers Trev.


I'd certainly be interested in the special edition. What are some of the extras?

Sorry meant to get back to you on this.

Cast and crew info, interviews etc.

Venice film festival footage.

Gallery.

Mini making of docs.

Director's commentary.

Some good stuff but no subtitles.

Thanks for the info, Trev. Unfortunately, no subs = no sale.

The main reason I bought it was because it cost me around 8 of your earth dollars, I think the seller was a little miffed at the lack of subtitles but the packaging is very handsome and the making of's are very interesting to see.

Cheers Trev.

Originally posted by arsaib4
"We are all empty houses. Waiting for someone. To open the lock and set us free." (Kim Ki-duk)

I like this quote better than the cliched one at the end of the film. This one applies to the major portion of 3-Iron, the one used in the film applies specifically to the ending. You found the ending "something magical", I thought it was a cop-out, an easy way out. I do agree it's a very good film which I'd recommend to anyone looking for a visually splendid romance.

3-IRON - Grade: A-

Your review is 100 % positive. I'd be curious to know about any flaws you found or if none, its limitations. In other words, given your review's content, why is the grade not A or A+?

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Originally posted by oscar jubis
Your review is 100 % positive. I'd be curious to know about any flaws you found or if none, its limitations. In other words, given your review's content, why is the grade not A or A+?

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I’m glad you asked, because your question now provides me an opportunity to expound upon the system I’ve employed this year.

First of all, this isn’t something I’m fooling around with. I think about a film for quite a while before adding a letter grade, even when my comments teeter around extreme sarcasm. 3-Iron is a good example to go further into this, however, it’s not a perfect one.

It may end up being unfair at times, but to me a grade doesn’t just reflect upon the film at hand. It's also relative to all the films that I've seen. So far, the highest grade I’ve given is an "A-," and that has only been awarded to 3 films: 3-Iron, Crash, and My Mother's Smile. Does that mean these films aren't perfect? Not necessarily, but rather they aren’t as good as films that deserve the highest of honors (I don't consider them "masterpieces"). If I keep giving every film I like, or even love, an "A" or an "A+," then where would I place a film that I think comes close to Sunrise, L’Avventura, Tokyo Story, Apocalypse Now, Pixote, Rosetta etc. As we know, these don’t come around very often, but when they do, I’d prefer to have some gap between them and the others. There might be a genre film which I love, but it may not get higher then a "B." I intend to offset any confusion by not simply offering a grade of "B" as a lesser grade, but only use it when the films are truly worthy of it. The median grade between "A+" and "F" is "C+," and I’ve tried to work around it. I certainly need to get used to it, and I hope others will also.

In my comments regarding 3-Iron, I probably could’ve added that this film is a lateral move for Kim. But that sounds a bit negative, doesn’t it? And if I did, then it would've required me to go further back into his oeuvre, and that’s something I'd prefer not to do at this point since most aren’t familiar with his work.

I'm sure I would do a better job explicating myself at another time, but hopefully this provides some groundwork for where I'm coming from and what I'm trying to do.

3-IRON (Bin jip)

Directed by Kim Ki-duk (2004)

Korean director Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron relates the odyssey of a macho teenager who breaks into people's homes when they are away in order to provide a "presence" in an empty house. It is a moody suspense thriller and "existential" love story that moves from one cruel and violent scene to another interspersed with interludes of meditative calm and ersatz mysticism. Jae Hee turns in a bravura performance as the enigmatic drifter Tae-suk. He does not utter a single word throughout the film but conveys layers of meaning through facial expressions and body movements, often breaking into a puzzling smile. A college graduate, Tae-suk finds little to do with his life other than riding his BMW motorcycle to attach pizza flyers to the front door of people's homes. When he goes back over his route, he discovers which people have not removed their flyers, concludes that they are not at home, and surreptitiously enters their house using a set of master keys.

Apparently not concerned with whether or not they are away for a day, a week or a few hours, he enters their place of dwelling and simply helps himself to what is available without stealing anything. As one critic remarked, the film should have been titled Zen and the Art of Breaking and Entering. We never find out what this character's motivations are but it is irrelevant, as he is only one of many symbols that Kim substitutes for real people. Shortly after entering a wealthy home, he finds a morose battered woman Sun-hwa (Lee Sueng yeon) and feels an immediate connection. When her husband returns and begins abusing his wife again, the teenager comes to her rescue by pounding golf balls into the man's stomach, some sort of Zen lesson I presume.

The two silent partners now form a connection and join together in their silent breaking and entering ritual. Reminiscent of Tsai Ming Liang's Vive L'Amour, they have sex in other people's beds, borrow their pajamas and help themselves to their food. They say nothing to each other, fix broken appliances, scrub bathroom floors, and do the laundry as repayment for the temporary appropriation of the home. In one of the houses, they find an old man lying dead on the floor. Without making any inquiries, alerting the police, trying to contact friends or relatives, the existential detectives simply bury the man in the front lawn of his house. When the man's son arrives, however, Tae-suk is arrested for murder, trespassing, and kidnapping and Sun-hwa is sent back to her husband to endure more abuse. The boy does not proclaim his innocence or try to defend himself but rather arrogantly provokes the anger of the police investigator and guards through his prolonged silence and disappearing acts.

While 3-Iron has a haunting quality and contains some fine acting and gorgeous shot composition, the film shouts "spiritual message" from the opening scene. The equivalent of spiritual fast food, the film panders to growing Western interest in Eastern religion but misses the essence of what it is about. Spirituality lies in making oneself visible to the world, not invisible. It is about compassion, integrity, and open communication, spreading enlightenment through example not driving golf balls into a person's stomach or violating people's right to privacy. Like Kim Ki-duk's previous effort, Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall…and Spring, 3-Iron is quite appealing on the surface. It is only when you look underneath do you find that it is hollow at its core.

GRADE: B-

Originally posted by Howard Schumann
macho teenager

I'm perplexed. Certainly doing house chores like washing clothes by hand no es muy macho...

Reminiscent of Tsai Ming Liang's Vive L'Amour

Absolutely, and uncontestably, in my opinion, a lesser film than Tsai's.

the film shouts "spiritual message" from the opening scene. The equivalent of spiritual fast food

You're not the only one to think so (Scott Foundas called it "Buddhism-for-dummies") but, perhaps because I'm not spiritually-inclined, I didn't hear the "shout". Can you enlighten me?

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I'm perplexed. Certainly doing house chores like washing clothes by hand no es muy macho

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Just his look and his swagger and his aggressiveness gave me this feeling of macho, perhaps not.

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Absolutely, and uncontestably, in my opinion, a lesser film than Tsai's.

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Yes, it's kind of a rip off. As a user pointed out on IMdb, in Vive L'Amour the silence emerges naturally from the loneliness of the characters. In 3-Iron, it feels like a gimmick.

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You're not the only one to think so (Scott Foundas called it "Buddhism-for-dummies") but, perhaps because I'm not spiritually-inclined, I didn't hear the "shout". Can you enlighten me?

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Oh it just has this air about it and since total silence is not an everyday occurrence in the movies (except for the silent films), it seemed as if the director was trying to make it say something profound. It just seemed to be saying "look at me. how spiritual I am" and of course the other objections I cited in my review.