Hwal (2005)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 90 minuten
Alternative titles: The Bow / 활
Country:
South Korea / Japan
Directed by: Kim Ki-duk
Starst: Han Yeo-reum, Seong-hwang Jeon and Seo Ji-seok
IMDb score:
7,1 (12.039)
Releasedate: 12 May 2005
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Hwal plot
"A girl who thought the sea was the whole world, became the whole world to an old man."
A 60-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl live on a boat in the middle of the sea. He keeps her hidden from civilization and plans to marry her when she turns 17. The fishermen who now and then practice their hobby on the boat are hardly allowed to approach the girl, for the man anxiously watches over her safety and takes out his bow as soon as someone tries to come into contact with her. When a young fisherman visiting the boat touches the girl's heart, it doesn't please the old man, who sees his chances of marrying her shattered.
Actors and actresses
Young Girl
Old Man
Student
Student's Father
Man 1
Man 2
Man 3
Fisherman
Hoodwinker
Reviews & comments
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
As in his other films, Ki-duk Kim mainly lets the images do the talking. The young girl this movie revolves around doesn't even have a single word of text. But as Kim also showed in his previous film Bin-jip (2004), he can make beautiful films without much dialogue. Atmospheric, fascinating, from time to time quite exciting and beautiful camera work.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Woland
-
- 4531 messages
- 3657 votes
Kim Ki-Duk, he continues to make interesting films. Beautiful images, little dialogue, mysterious characters, and often little plot-driven - maybe not a good combination for everyone, but in my case it always works reasonably well with KKD. This is my sixth, and this one isn't bad either - but Hwal managed to captivate me a little less than most of his other work. It's again a story about love, but certainly not in a standard way. Here is the love, or something like that, between an old fisherman and some kind of foundling who is now about 16 years old, and who has been living on the same boat as the jealous old fisherman for about ten years.
As always with KKD, it's a solid piece of work. The setting is beautiful (although it was somewhat reminiscent of Seom, which I found a bit sharper) and the images ditto. Here too there is an obsessive character with a central role (the fisherman with his stifling jealousy), but compared to much of his other work I was less surprised and less moved by what happened. And I was left with a somewhat less satisfied fuss than I had secretly hoped.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico (moderator films)
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- 10017 messages
- 5398 votes
Again an intriguing Ki-duk Kim where he keeps returning to the same recipes. Beautiful images of the endless sea, accompanied by melodious music, bring something idyllic to his film. The fact that the two main characters don't say a word and only seem to communicate with a smile, frown or with their eyes makes the film special.
The girl is enchantingly beautiful and mysterious. The plot gently ripples on like the waves on the sea until ripples form and her heart is captured by a young fisherman. The ending is bizarre, but the ceremony that preceded it was beautiful. Nice Ki-duk Kim already!
Translated from Dutch · View original
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