All in all I actually didn't like this movie very much but I'd still recommend it to fans of the director, whom I'd count myself among:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whldChqCsYk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whldChqCsYk)
To call the movie "borderline pornographic" would be an understatement, but even so I didn't think there was anything really sexy about it, so you shouldn't worry about bringing the uninitiated.
The plot mechanics are very impressive, and Jung-woo Ha's performance is "mesmerizing," so on those fronts I can recommend it. I had some other problems but I'll wait to voice those in case anyone else sees it, which they should.
À la Wiki:
[spoiler]Hideko's aunt performed the readings before her, and eventually killed herself to escape her husband's abuse.[/spoiler]
Hahahahaha no thank you.
I've watched Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring directed by Kim Ki-duk.
That's a favourite of mine.
Good job reading the synopsis for a movie with like three major plot twists.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring was okay, but I disliked how [spoiler]the wife's murder was used merely as a catalyst for the monk's return to the shrine. The moral wasn't "killing your wife is wrong," but rather "dukkha arises from worldly desires," or whatever. As a love story it was great but as a Buddhist parable it was incredibly dry.[/spoiler]
3-Iron is his best movie imo. Way better than The Handmaiden, or anything Chan-wook Park's done since Lady Vengeance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydh1JQSOiH8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydh1JQSOiH8)