A melancholy road movie that reminded me most of the films of the Greek director Theo Angelopoulos, both in their subject matter and in the bleak tedium that the films go through to arrive at their conclusions. This film however lacks the intense aesthetic vision and images that make Angelopoulos' films such as `Suspended Step of the Stork' and `The Beekeeper' so memorable.
An isolated, depressed widower in search of meaning and redemption, and still trying to come to terms with the circumstances of his wife's death three years earlier, is gradually making his way towards her home town, in the desolate countryside near the Korean border, when his path crosses that of a dying company director (whose last wish is to go home to the same village to die) and his nurse. It is a grim tale of suffering and the cruelties of life. I think I missed out on a lot of the meaning of the film due to my limited knowledge of Asian culture and religion, but it still impressed me as a deep and moving film. Unfortunately the print I saw was of a rather bad quality (it seemed to have been originated on home processed 16mm, judging from the grain and colour variations), and I would recommend it only to the patient and those specifically interested in eastern ideas and thinking about moral values and the meaning of life.