An old man lives with a 16 year old girl in a boat on the sea. He found her when she was 6 years old, and since then she has been living with the man on his boat, and never seen anything else. People come to the boat to do some fishing, and a lot of the men coming there also tries to get it on with the young girl, but the old man is always there to stop them, shooting arrows at them with his bow. He intends to marry the girl as soon as she turn seventeen, but one day a young student comes to the boat to do some fishing together with his father, and the girl falls for him. The student wants to take her away from the old man and the life on the boat, for her to get to see and experience the outside world. But the old man has an obsession for the girl, and won't let her go without trying to do something about it.
Personally I think Kim Ki-duk is one of the finest film-makers out there, since watching his movies are like nothing else. They always have such good stories, strong and well-developed characters, fantastic atmosphere, and are extremely captivating to say the least. The Bow is no exception, and even though it might not be the man's best film to date, it's still a great flick that looks absolutely amazing. Thing with Kim Ki-duk's movies are that they are always really easy to get into and get caught up in. When it comes to strong dramas, they might sometimes be just too heavy to watch, and you need to be in a certain mood to be up for it. This is something I've been thinking about as well before starting to watch a Ki-Duk film, but every time as soon as I start to watch, they're always really easy to get into, and are always a rewarding experience.
What I like most about Ki-Duk's movies is that after you've been watching for a while, that whole feeling that you're just watching another movie goes away, and so it becomes more than just a movie. His flicks always manages to draw you in, to feel for the characters, and to care about what happens. They always carries a touch of the brutal reality we all have to face every now and then in life, and even if you can't releate to all that goes on in his movies, you're still bound to feel something. I guess personally I couldn't releate any less to The Bow, but it still makes for a great film, that is interesting, actually has a little tension, and is just so strange/different that one easily gets caught up in it.
 
This old man lives together with a 16 year old girl on a boat, a girl that he found when she was 6 years old. When she turns seventeen, he intends to marry the girl, and he is counting the days on his almanac. Apparently both the girl and the old man can speak, but they never speak to each other throughout the whole movie, I guess it's some bond they share, and the man is very protective of her. A lot of people come out to his boat to do some fishing and some of them tries to get it on with the girl, but the old man's always there to stop them with his bow and arrows. But one day a student shows up whom the girl falls for, which causes a lot of problems for the old man, and his future wedding plans.
So is she happy on the boat? I mean, she has never seen anything else, and when she grows up she's forced to marry some man, much older than her, who has been taking care of her for the past 10 years or so. She seems happy at first, at place on the boat and with the man, but the day when the student shows up, things changes drastically. The student wants to take her off the boat, for her to see the world, and for her to have another life than the one she's leading right now. It's totally understandable the way the student thinks, and were the old man first seemed like a likable old chap, the student makes him look not so good after a while. And what does the girl think? She has been on the boat for so long with just one person, of course she feels strongly for the old man, as well as she gets all these new feelings for the student, and what he wants her to do. Judge for yourself, or just watch it and enjoy this fine piece of cinema.
The Bow is a great movie that has an interesting story, is beautifully directed and that carries a good pace. If you've watched any of Ki-duk's films before, you might know a little of what to expect, and if you haven't, then why not give it a shot. It's a movie with a lot of feeling, it's looks great, features some really good acting, and fitting music as well. Recommended.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Hwal
MOVIE YEAR: 2005
DIRECTOR: Kim Ki-duk
WRITING CREDITS: Kim Ki-duk
GENRE: Drama, Romance
CAST: Seong-hwang Jeon, Yeo-reum Han, Si-jeok Seo
COUNTRY: South Korea
RUNTIME: 90 min
RATING: 8/10
Bow, The Website/IMDB Click here
Bow, The Trailer Click here
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