Kim Ki-duk’s The Bow is an unusual, deeply emotional, spiritual, and heartwrenching love story. It carries two opposite dimensions simultaneously. On one hand, it shows control, restriction, and possessiveness; on the other hand, it depicts an obsessive, self-sacrificing love story. The entire film is woven with spirituality and numerous spiritual metaphors. An old man (Jeon Seong-hwang) has raised a 16-year-old girl (Han Yeo-reum) since her childhood on an aloof fishing boat in the middle of the sea, and wants to marry her when she turns 17. He fends off the advances of other men who come to his boat for fishing with his bow and arrows. However, when the girl falls in love with a young handsome student, she revolts and leaves the old man. In a metaphorical spiritual ending, the girl sets out for her new liberated life. However, the shadows of the old man remain with her forever.
The Bow is a possessive, obsessive, and heartwrenching love story in which the man in love sacrifices himself. The old man found a 6-year-old girl and raised her to her current age of 16. Viewers don’t know how he found her. However, viewers gradually get to know that he loves her deeply and takes care of her every need. He plans to marry her when she turns 17. The love story may look bizarre, but the old man does not hesitate to sacrifice his life by tying the anchor rope around his neck when she leaves him for the male student who comes there to fish with his father. Kim Ki-duk vividly shows the significance and value of liberation. No matter how strongly the old man loves her, the girl is irritated by his control, restriction, and close monitoring. The sea is her only world, and she is completely unaware of the outside world until the handsome male student arrives, and she instantly falls in love with him. When she experiences the taste of liberation, she does not hesitate to leave the old man. The same principle is true in the everyday world as well. No human, state, or country loves to be in control of others. Freedom carries paramount importance. No matter how well they are governed, economic or sociological colonization is never welcomed.
In The Bow film, the bow represents the duality theme of the film, just like the two opposite dimensions of the old man’s personality. On one hand, he is an obsessive and passionate lover who can sacrifice his life for the girl, and on the other hand, he is a possessive guardian who controls the girl’s daily life. He fends off even the slightest advances of other men to the girl by shooting arrows from his bow. The bow also serves two opposite purposes in the film. On one hand, it is used to intimidate people; on the other hand, it is used as a musical instrument and for fortune-telling.
The ending of The Bow may look bizarre, but it carries immense significance. When the wedding ceremony is over, the old man steers the smaller boat away to consummate the marriage, shoots an arrow from his bow toward the sky, and then commits suicide by jumping off the boat into the sea. The arrow comes back, penetrates the girl’s general, and she has an orgasm. Even though the old man is gone forever, his spirit does not really leave the girl. Then the girl sets out on her new life with the male student as the bigger boat sinks into the sea. In the same way, we move on to the future, leaving our past, but its impact and influence never really leave us. It stays with us forever.
Kim Ki-duk himself wrote the film with very little dialogue and wrapped it up with spirituality and numerous spiritual metaphors. The old man and the girl don’t talk and only whisper to each other during the fortune-telling. The mood and emotions are conveyed through their body language and outstanding facial expressions. Their acting without words makes viewers feel deeply emotional long after the film ends.
Jang Seong-baek’s magnificent cinematography captures the panoramic views of the sea throughout the day and night. His camera also captures the claustrophobic dwelling of the old man and the girl on the aloof fishing boat in the middle of the sea. Baek meticulously captures the emotional state of both the old man and the girl through their facial expressions in multiple close-ups. Another major aspect of The Bow is Kang Eun-il’s outstanding string-based background score, which is evocative, soulful, and melancholy. The music is an orchestration of the Korean traditional instrument haegeum, viola, and violin. It resonates with the emotional turmoil of the old man and the girl.