The Bow

The film takes place on a boat floating on an unnamed ocean, on which lives an old man (Jeon Sung-hwan) and a young girl (Han Yeo-reum, also in the director’s excellent “Samaria”). The old man plans to marry the girl, who he supposedly found some ten years earlier, and who has never left the boat, as soon as she turns seventeen. It is a date the old man eagerly awaits, even counting down the days on a calendar. The old man’s other prize possession is a bow, with which he protects the girl, as well as using it as a musical instrument.

The two make money by hosting
fishermen, and by telling their fortunes using the strange method of the old man shooting arrows at the girl as she swings in front of what appears to be a Buddhist painting on the side of the boat. Their idyllic existence is troubled by the appearance of a young man, who falls in love with the girl and accuses the old man of keeping her prisoner. Slowly, the girl starts to assert herself, and as the wedding day draws near, tensions mount and confrontation appears inevitable.

The story itself deals with many of the themes which often run through Kim Ki-duk’s films, primarily in its examination of love through the concepts of ownership and trust. The relationship between the old man and the girl is complex, and even as the film progresses, and it appears that the girl is indeed kept against her will, Kim never offers any easy answers or condemnations. The old man and the girl’s affection for each other and co-dependence is made all the more powerful by the fact that neither speaks, and the way in which Kim allows subtle actions and glances to illustrate their emotions and motivations is extremely skilful, and never feels forced.

Since the fishermen who come to the boat are generally perverts who are constantly trying to grab the girl, her relationship with the old man has a strangely innocent aspect, and though uncomfortable, never feels overtly aggressive or exploitative. In fact, the old man’s role of protector, driving away the letches with his bow, and the tender love he clearly feels for the girl, generate considerable sympathy, and even when the young man appears to challenge him, it is far from clear who is truly acting in the girl’s best interests. This moral ambiguity is fascinating, and presents the viewer with a set of intriguing characters rather than a set of obvious heroes and villains.