Synopsis

The film takes place on a boat floating on an unnamed ocean, on which lives an old man and a young girl. The old man plans to marry the girl, who he supposedly found some ten years earlier, and who has never left the boat, as soon as she turns seventeen.

It is a date the old man eagerly awaits, even counting down the days on a calendar. The old man’s other prize possession is a bow, with which he protects the girl, as well as using it as a musical instrument.

The two make money by hosting fishermen, and by telling their fortunes using the strange method of the old man shooting arrows at the girl as she swings in front of what appears to be a Buddhist painting on the side of the boat.



Their idyllic existence is troubled by the appearance of a young man, who falls in love with the girl and accuses the old man of keeping her prisoner.

Slowly, the girl starts to assert herself, and as the wedding day draws near, tensions mount and confrontation appears inevitable. Celebrated Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s tale of lust and fate.

Cast: Yeo-reum Han, Si-jeok Seo, Seong-hwang Jeon

Cannes (Un Certain Regard)