3-Iron Review

3-Iron
A benign squatter of temporarily absent homes comes upon an abused housewife on one of his break-ins and they start a silent love affair.

by William Thomas |
Published on
Release Date:

15 Jul 2005

Running Time:

88 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

3-Iron

This allegorical love story from rising Korean directorial star Kim Ki Duk involves friendly Korean footpad (Jae Hee) breaking into holidaying folks’ houses and staying there a while repairing things, leaving no trace of his presence when he leaves.

On one such benign break-in, he’s discovered by abused housewife Lee Seung-Yeon, and an unusual, tender and pleasantly played (though entirely wordless) love affair develops. She joins his nomadic existence, before the pair are apprehended and the film takes an ethereal turn.

Beguiling to the point of bafflement — the golfing metaphor is simply pie-in-the-sky — 3-Iron’s brand of evocative magic-realism hints at a tightly wound ball of meaning, but is a bitch to untangle. The dreamy atmosphere of romance and longing is beautifully created, however, and makes for an engrossing, if demandingly obscure, watch.

A compelling, if obscure, experience with evocative scene-setting and dreamy atmosphere
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