MovieChat Forums > Binjip (2004) Discussion > Angels

Angels

posted 17 years ago by mfa215
12 replies | jump to latest

I was reading the long thread about the scale at the end of the film and it seems like hardly anyone at all picked up on the angel imagery. It's not just that he was practicing at being a "ghost" - he was becoming an angel in more ways than one.

When he was in jail, he stuck his arms out and behind him, waving his wrists lightly, as if they were wings.

In the final scene, when she's trying to find him and she holds her arms out to block him from darting away, their bodies create the shadow of an angel on the wall.

When they're on the scale, it measures zero because, essentially, they're not on the ground. It's where the movie's symbolism crosses over into the "physical world." She didn't fix the scale to match both their weights (she fixed it earlier, demonstrating what she picked up from him, because it measured her own weight wrong) and they didn't "balance each other out" because weighing a negative amount doesn't make any sense (and he weighs more than her anyway).

Also keep in mind all the good deeds he had done earlier. The guy acts as a guardian angel of sorts, or at least he perhaps aspires to it. I don't intend for that to be taken literally as the point of the movie, but I'm saying that this "angel" imagery and symbolism is laid throughout the movie.

[–] thao 17 years ago

I like your theory!

- This comment is most likely authentic and fairly close to what I intended to say -

[–] tonyhillson 17 years ago

+
What kind of "angel" gets revenge on the arresting office....

Maybe your cultural bias is coloring the meaning of the film. have you ever talked to a Koren person?

Frankly...maybe an understanding of Buddism is critical to the understanding of this motion picture.

[–] mfa215 17 years ago

"What kind of "angel" gets revenge on the arresting office...."

An angel with a very strict moral code. Everyone in the movie got what they "deserved," so to speak.

"Maybe your cultural bias is coloring the meaning of the film. have you ever talked to a Koren person?"

I have lived in Korea for years.

"Frankly...maybe an understanding of Buddism is critical to the understanding of this motion picture."

Nope. Director Kim Ki-duk admitted when he directed Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring (which came out before 3-Iron) that he knew absolutely nothing about Buddhism (the movie itself appeared to have strong Buddhist themes).

[–] sun_wukung_18 17 years ago

1. Kim Ki-Duk is Christian. His films appear more Buddhist because he has a "Buddhist" personality I suppose.

2. Since when were angels free from vengeance? Even the most pure of human beings are forced into vengeful action if the circumstances permit. For all I care nameless dude taught corrupt cop one darn good lesson.

[–] mfa215 17 years ago

"1. Kim Ki-Duk is Christian. His films appear more Buddhist because he has a "Buddhist" personality I suppose."

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring "appeared" Buddhist because the characters lived in a Buddhist temple on the water and prayed to a statue of the Buddha.

"2. Since when were angels free from vengeance? Even the most pure of human beings are forced into vengeful action if the circumstances permit. For all I care nameless dude taught corrupt cop one darn good lesson."

I don't think he was necessarily avenging himself so much as giving the cop what he deserved. As was evident in his (non) actions toward the husband, it wasn't about vengeance at all.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] MouseonCrack 17 years ago

most koreans are christian

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] roxhed1 17 years ago

FINALLY!!! Some light in the tunnel of confusion! I like it. This definitely makes a lot of sense. Angels are able to move seemlessly from our physical view and out again. This will explain a lot.

Thank you!

[–] fuitas 17 years ago

is there a double meaning for these action of his(according to you theory)? Because the reason he's waving his wrists lightly is clearly a way to see were the limits are for human periphery sight, while his moving around and measuring.

[–] mfa215 17 years ago

"is there a double meaning for these action of his(according to you theory)? Because the reason he's waving his wrists lightly is clearly a way to see were the limits are for human periphery sight, while his moving around and measuring."

Well, yeah, there's the double meaning. On one hand, it's practical in a stealth/meditative sort of way (it's possible that the location of his hands were right outside of his peripheral vision, thus marking the distance he'd need to trail his target), and on the other hand, it conveys the imagery of an angel.

[–] 17 years ago

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