Director Kim Ki-duk
See the Sony Classics trailer for the film at: http://www.sonyclassics.com/spring/.
xDahn Yoga Korea Club
October 6 Meeting
The Korea Club provides Dahn Yoga students with three ways to experience Korean culture more deeply:
Direct, personal experience of Korean music, foods, dress, etc. These meetings are spectacular and colorful. They may be at the Brooklyn Heights center or at another location. The May meeting was at the Brooklyn center and included a delicious traditional Korean lunch and a colorful fashion show of traditional Korean attire (hanbok). However, the June meeting took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we heard a traditional Korean musician. The August meeting will include a trip with Master Jo and Kee Nam to Koreatown in NYC to eat at HanGawi -- an organic, vegetarian Korean restaurant.
An in-depth overview through fascinating videos and DVDs about South Korea as well as hot, current South Korean films that are winning in international festivals! Just by watching a few videos and DVDs, you will be surprised how quickly you will learn about this multi-faceted culture that is getting so much attention around the world now. The films about South Korea (and later North Korea) provide the context that will make the direct experiences of Korean culture and the fascinating Korean films we will see later much more enjoyable!
The Korea Club website supplements the insight into Korean culture provided by direct personal experience and films.
The May, June, and August meetings of the Korea Club provided members with a direct experience of Korean culture -- food, dress, and music.
In our opening meeting on May 5 Korea Club members ate traditional Korean food and to saw a wonderful fashion show of traditional Korean attire (called "hanbok").
For June 2 meeting, the Brooklyn Heights members of the Korea Club were joined by 17 Dahn Yoga masters from around New York as we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to hear the traditional Korean musician, Hwang Byungki whose music is played at each of our Korea Club meetings (and is played on the home page of this site). After the concert, the group had dinner at HanGawi, the organic, vegetarian restaurant in Koreatown and some members of the groups went to KoryoDong for dessert.
On our August 4 meeting, Master Jo and Kee Nam will lead the Korea Club to HanGawi for lunch, followed by dessert at KoryoDong, and a stop at the Koryo Books bookstore that has lots of interesting items in addition to great books.
At the July 7 meeting, the Korea Club began the first step in getting an overview of this rich 5,000 year-old-culture that provide a context for the direct experiences of Korean culture. The first film about South Korea called South Korea: Land of Morning Calm was shown. "Land of the Morning Calm" the name by which Korea was known during the Choson Dynasty which lasted from 1392 until 1910 when modern-day Korea was born.
At the September 1 meeting, the Korea Club continued its immersion into Korean culture through a fascinating DVD called Cloud Path -- American Buddhist Monk. The DVD showed the story of A Paul Muenzen who grew up in Rahway, New Jersey in a Catholic family that expected him to become a priest. However, after going to Yale and Harvard Divinity Schoo, he chose to be a Zen Buddhist monk and moved to Korea! Now Venerable Hyon Gak Sunim, he is based in South Korea and is the Head Teacher of the Seoul International Zen Centre at the Hwagyesa Temple. He goes on meditation retreats which could last up to 100 days in the remote mountainous regions, and draws several thousands to his talks. His book “From Harvard to Hwagyesa,” was a bestseller and is credited with reviving interest in Korean Zen Buddhism!
The October 6 Korea Club meeting is a perfect follow-up for the September meeting because we will see is the award-winning film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring which was written and director by the famed Kim Ki-duk. It is a haunting story about a Buddhist monk and his young student at a monastery on an island retreat. See more about Kim's illustrious career on the Korean Films page.
Director Kim Ki-duk
See the Sony Classics trailer for the film at: http://www.sonyclassics.com/spring/.
See the reviews at: http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/springsummerfallwinterandspring.
This exquisitely filmed 2004 drama centers around a Buddhist monk and his student at a monastery that floats on a raft amidst a breathtaking landscape on an exquisitely tree-lined lake. The elegant story is hauntingly beautiful. It is divided into five segments, with each season representing a stage in the student’s life as he learns harsh lessons that apply to us all. The surprise ending adds special meaning to this inspiring film! The director himself appears as the man in the last stage of life.
The hermitage that is the stage for SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER... AND SPRING is an artificially-constructed set made to float on top of Jusan Pond in North Kyungsang Province in Korea. Created about 200 years ago, Jusan Pond is an artificial lake in which the surrounding mountains are reflected in its waters. It retains the mystical aura of having trees more than hundreds of years old still growing within its water. LJ Film was able to obtain permission to build the set after convincing the Ministry of Environment through six months of negotiations.
The Korean poster for the film is shown below.
