Film analysis: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...and Spring

After the third viewing, I think I finally got most of the main points in the movie, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter...and Spring. I assume anyone who reads this who hasn't seen the film by now, won't see it, so I'm not spoiling anything. Besides, this is interpretation. And this entire post is geek-wank, so anyone who hasn't seen the film wouldn't want to read any further anyway, so I can go on at length.

+ A leading point of confusion was "who was the woman at the end, and what's the significance of keeping who she is from the audience, even when the monk unveils her and discovers who she is?". I think the woman is the reincarnation of the old monk, and here's why:
--- The first clue is the use of the snake to symbolize the old monk (they slither away from the burning boat and are in his discarded clothes). At key points with the woman, when the question is strongest who she is, the director cuts to a shot of snakes.
--- Immediately after the young monk unveils the woman, there is a shot of a stone Buddha over the hole she fell in, that's a connection between the woman and a Buddha, and there's also a shot of the head of the ice Buddha floating in the stream. The ice Buddha represents the old monk because after the young monk carved it, he placed the precious stones of the old monk (more on that later) into its forehead (third eye). The ice head floating in the stream represents that it is also the now-dead woman.
--- The timeline is perfect for this theory. The old monk dies after the young monk is taken away to prison. If he's reincarnated as a woman, she would easily be in child-bearing years by the time the young monk gets out of prison 20-25 years later or whatever the minimum sentence for murder is in Korea. I'm assuming he gets out as soon as he's eligible because of good behavior.
--- The reason why the audience is never shown the woman's face is because if this theory is right, it would ruin the film to make it visually obvious. It's something for the audience to figure out using symbolic, visual cues. It's a little bit like Luke removing Darth Vader's mask. George Lucas ruined the film for me (for the 68th time at that point) by forcing an image, any image, of Anakin on us. It would have been so much more effective (and good film) if all we got was Luke's reaction shot. The audience's imagination would do the rest to move itself to tears, but Lucas assumes his audience has no imagination. And given the popularity of the extended "Star Wars" franchise, he's probably right. I digress.

+ With the theory that the woman is the reincarnation of the old monk, that begs further questions about the old monk's death. What was the old monk's suicide about? Why did he mimic the young monk's suicide attempt?
--- One interpretation is that the old monk knew exactly what he was doing. When the young monk is being taken away, the old monk "holds" the boat until the young monk turns around so that he could wave goodbye to him, knowing this was the last time they would see each other in this life. Then he lets the boat go. He then goes and dies, knowing he'll come back after the young monk gets out of prison.
--- I think there's also an atonement aspect to his death, which is why he mimics the young monk's attempted suicide with the pieces of paper over his face with the word "shut" written on them. All that has happened to the young monk is very much of himself as well, there's no duality. All the suffering the young monk has gone through and caused, in particular the person the young monk murdered, is directly linked to the old monk. The young monk is sent off to prison to pay his debt to society for the murder, but the old monk gives his life to pay off the karmic debt of the young monk. That's the compassion and selflessness of a bodhisattva.
--- It's important to understand the difference between the young monk attempting suicide and the old monk's doing it. The old monk beats the young monk for trying to do it because he knows the sources of the act - attachment, desire, suffering, torment, escape - and that he will end up worse off if he succeeded. He's in a karmic Catch-22 and his solution is to kill a(nother) living being, as if one wasn't bad enough. On the other hand, a hard part to understand, is that when the old monk does it, he doesn't kill himself. An enlightened being can't kill him or herself because there is no self to kill. That's what enlightenment means - it's a profound understanding, realization, and manifestation that there is no self that is separate from everything else in the universe. The self doesn't die, it can't be created, and it can't be killed because the idea of self that we unenlightened humans have is gone or radically altered and doesn't apply anymore.
--- A corollary to that is that the woman doesn't "die" either. It's the monk completing his commitment to the young monk.

So explicating the Winter sequence:
The young monk is released from prison and returns to the monastery. Immediately upon arrival, he walks to where the sunken boat is and bows to his master as if he knew exactly what happened after he was taken away. How does he know? It is his insight from having attained perfection (not enlightenment) while in prison. His perfection is depicted in his complete control of body and mind with the martial arts sequences and the ice Buddha carving. He picks through the ice where his master's remains are and digs out the precious stones and gems that he knows are there. That's a Buddhist thing, the belief (and some say documented fact) is that when a fully enlightened being dies, he or she leaves behind precious stones and gems in their remains after cremation.

When he sees the woman's face, he realizes it's the reincarnation of his master, and that is the catalyst for his enlightenment. Everything comes together and he returns to the very beginning with the stone tied to his back, only this time he ties it there himself and begins his ascent bearing the weight of all suffering (which I think may also be a Christ image, as Kim Ki-Duk is Christian), while carrying the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara. His reaching the top is attaining enlightenment. What is enlightenment? It's sitting back at the monastery with a new disciple abusing a poor turtle.