<What is the Reason Why Bodhidharma Went to the East? (Dalmaga dongjjok-euro gan kkadakeun) > (1989)

Director Bae Yong-Kyun
Production Company Bae Yong-Kyun Production
Date of Rate 1989-02-27
Date of Theatrical Release 1989-09-23
Running Time 175 min.
Opening Theater Myeong Bo Theater, Cine House Hall 3
Genre Religion

Staff :
Screenplay(Adaptation) Bae Yong-Kyun
Producer Bae Yong-Kyun
Director of PhotoGraphy Bae Yong-Kyun
Gaffer Bae Yong-Kyun
Music Jin Kyu-Young
Art Director Bae Yong-Kyun
Editor Bae Yong-Kyun

Cast(Actor/Actress) :
Lee Pan-Yong, Shin Won-Seob

Synopsis

Child monk Hae-jin (Hwang Hae-jin) lives with an aged monk named Hye-gok (Lee Pan-yong) in a temple deep in the mountains. One day, a young monk by the name of Ki-bong (Shin Won-seob) comes to the temple. Ki-bong, who is yet unable to wholly sever his emotional connection to the secular world, has sought out Hye-gok through the recommendation of his head monk in order to find the path to enlightenment and true freedom. Through ceaseless spiritual communion with Hye-gok, Ki-bong strives to realize the teachings of Buddha. But he is tortured and conflicted by his inability to abandon his blood ties, secular desires, and worldly morals. Then one day, Hye-gok realizes that his time on earth has come to an end. He asks Ki-bong to cremate his remains, and to tell no one of his death.

Notes

"The advent of a tremendous new director, a triumph rarely seen since Orson Welles's Citizen Kane" (Yomota Inuhiko)
What is the Reason… blazed like a meteor into the firmament of Korean cinema by receiving the Best Prize award at the Locarno Film Festival. Director Bae Yong-kyun stunned the Korean film industry by emerging with a completely different kind of film from outside the pales of Chungmuro (the Korean equivalent to Hollywood). Even more astonishing was the fact that he personally took on every aspect of its creation, from screenplay, direction, production, and editing to cinematography, lighting, and even art direction. What is the Reason… depicts a form of Buddhist meditation that consists of posing abstruse yet revealing questions that have no "correct" answers. Hye-gok, the aged monk, is as unshakable as a rock; young Ki-bong strives for deliverance from worldly desires but is unable to root out his secular passions Hae-jin, the child, possesses an innocence free from all secular taint. Through these three monks, the film poses the existential question of life and death, and asks how one may free oneself from its fetters. Like the particular form of Buddhist meditation it depicts, What is the Reason… continually poses metaphysical questions that are impossible to answer. These questions are presented as much through nature as through its three protagonists. In the film, each scene from nature is a profound question and an abstruse reply. This is clearly epitomized in the scene where Ki-bong asks, "When the way is blocked, where does one turn for guidance?" and Hye-gok answers, "Mountains and streams, trees and grass, all things in the universe (Sancheon chomok, samra mansang)." Director Bae Yong-kyun captures nature with the gaze of one who seeks spiritual truth. As if in reflection of his belief that every slant of light, every season, and every alteration in the natural landscape bespeaks a different cosmic truth, the movie keenly visualizes every aspect of changeful nature. Framed like paintings and illumined only with natural light, each scene demonstrates perfect artistry. The beauty of silence and solitude in Bae Yong-kyun's film was an unprecedented revelation in Korean cinematic history, and received the highest praise from critics.

Afterword:

- What is the Reason… was eight years in the making, with the actual shoot taking up half of that time. Some scenes were shot over sixty times, while others had to be postponed till the following year due to a change in seasons. Sometimes, only two or three cuts could be filmed within a single day. Such accounts afford a glimpse into the enormous care the director poured into his movie.
- All of the characters were played by amateur actors.
- The original running time was 2 hours and 50 minutes, but the theatrical version was whittled down to 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Director Bio: Bae Yong-kyun (1961- )

He was launched into overnight stardom when his movie, What is the Reason Why Bodhidharma Went to the East? (Dalmaga dongjjok-euro gan kkadakeun?) received the Grand Prix at the Locarno International Film Festival. After graduatingfrom the Art Department of Seoul National University, he went on to earn both his master's and doctorate's degrees in plastic art from the University of Paris, afterward, receiving a position at Hyoseong Catholic University as a professor of Western Art. As a director, he is entirely self-taught. What is the Reason Why Bodhidharma Went to the East? (Dalmaga dongjjok-euro gan kkadakeun?) was the first movie that he made, and his next movie was The people in white (Geom-euna ttang-e huina baegseong), a film about the events that occur to a middle aged man as he stays overnight at a remote village called Haecheon Village. In both works, he used a cast made up entirely of amateur actors, doing most of the work on the movies by himself, and creating a unique visual experience through a selective use of the lighting.