Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring
There is much too obvious symbolism and purportedly deep and hard-to-elicit mystical reality in this movie. The movie in some sense is an homage to Buddhism and draws deeply from Buddhist teachings and philosophy. The weather cycle is easily seen to be a metaphor for the different phases in the protagonist's character -- from a child guilty of cruelty to a boy guilty of lust to a man guilty of anger and finally returning to his origins to begin anew as a hermit. The cinematography is breathtaking and the actors are fresh and in-character. Quite a treat to watch.