3-Iron

A unique movie. It has an interesting story, fresh concept, immersive development, is enjoyable poetic and has fascinating ideas. I just watched it with a friend in the cinema a long time ago because he recommend the movie and said it sounded interesting with a little bit craziness. Today I would have done some research but back then I did watch it without knowing anything about the movie except being made in Korea. Side note: I know this movie as Bin-Jip not as 3-Iron. It is described as romantic drama but I see barley the drama aspect. It can be alternatively described as slice of life of a loner that turns into a character development or heroes journey. Tae-Suk is a loner who aimlessly drives around on his motorbike and in life. He breaks into homes where the owners are out of town by lockpicking. He is testing that the owners are out of town with fliers from restaurants. If they were not removed in a timely manner the owners are out of town. However while he lives in the homes he is no burglar. He does not steal, washes clothes, cleaned the homes and repairs broken equipment. The story starts when he meets the model Sun-Hwa in one of the homes he broke in. I end with the set up. I say the story was unlike anything I expected. It won me over, was enjoyable and I cared for the characters (= Hallmarks of good story telling). There will be twists and character development. One of the final developments from Tae-Suk can be seen as a negative by others. However for me it made the movie better, more remarkable and fascinating. I and my friends love the idea. Lets say it has elements that can be used in a fairy tale too without being much out of place in reality. I want to praise the director and writer Kim Ki-Duk for this. He is great in what he does and definitely deserves more recognition. Now to the good cast. Lee Hyun-Kyoon is a fantastic Tae-Suk. He works without words as silent protagonist. Alone his mimic and body language is far better than a lot of other actors that have dialogues. It never feels out of place and delivers everything. Should probably include this as example for the “Show not tell” rule in movies. Then here is Lee Seung-Yeon as Sun-Hwa. She does an amazing job in a difficult role. I praise her for this great performance as a weaker performance had weaken the movie too. Kwon Hyuk-Ho ins Min-Gyu who is a rich businessman and husband of Sun-Hwa. He is great to in the love to hate category. I truly enjoyed him. The other characters have smaller roles but enhance the experience and I will name Ju Jin-Mo here as he does a lot in a smaller role. The visuals and sets are good and help to deliver the atmosphere. As a sidenote: I think the movie is named 3-Iron because Tae-Suk uses a golf club and trains by binding a golf ball to a tree for training his hits. Overall this is a hidden gem and movie I recommend to anyone who likes something different that is entertaining, poetic and a modern fairy tale without getting far into fantasy territory.

The phrase "beauty in simplicity" comes to mind after viewing "3-iron". Kim Ki-duk's use of surrealism and realism creates a dreamlike ambiance, and the impeccable cinematography captures the tender and intimate interactions between the protagonists. I strongly recommend watching this film.