time by kim ki-duk...

  anything worth talking about is worth talking about across all formats.



  today i watched the movie time by korean director kim ki-duk. i stumbled upon it at pusplay.com, after a friend sent me a link to a film she wante me to watch. the service seemed attractive for the price ($2.95/month for unlimited streaming) so i decided to take a chance.

  little did i know that i'd discover a gem which would make my impulse purchase entirely worth it.

  time deals with two lovers who are perfectly flawed. the problems arise when the neurotic female lead feels insecure about herself and decides to up and leave her boyfriend and change her face. sure, sounds like a simple plot, but the problems which arise are simply the beginning to this tragic tale. eventually, the boyfriend cant eat, sleep, drink, or even shit, without feeling confused about his existence, because all he wants to know is how he fits in, but she literally will not let him. he is too tortured to let her go and too hurt to believe she would resort to such antics, especially when she continually rejects his love in all forms.

  eventually, he decides to play her game and things do not turn out well for either one. it is a story which deals with the universal theme of identity and happiness, things which philosophers have been discussing since the dawn of recorded history.

  this is not a movie which is light of heart, but it is highly stylized, something which i see more american films becoming, although they keep their goofball lighting tricks, which makes it hard to take the popcorn fare seriously. time is an arthouse film with a feel for the mainstream, with scenes shot in modern looking places. it is at once beautiful with a sense of tragedy building throughout the movie until you almost feel like the endgame is well worth it. this is something most films fail to accomplish, because we are used to seeing people who endure through suffering to be rewarded. but what end does such a flawed character deserve when she begins to realize she should never have begun to play with true love? the answer awaits and it is a beautiful journey to observe...

  on a side note...

  the movie helped me to feel much better about my personal circumstance. again, i will reiterate that my muse is culture, specifically all expressions of culture, because they remind me that as human beings we have so much love to offer the world, and every thing which exists on it. worlds are subjective in that they can be individual or universal, and in my case i'm referring to my personal experiences on this world. or, my world within this world. or the 4th dimension relative to the 3rd. so on, and so on.

  my point is that whenever i feel down i can turn to culture and it lifts me up, and i realized that i had been failing to satisfy my appetite for film, which is voracious, so this current lull in my life provides me a perfect opportunity to continue to explore the one subject which trumps all others: culture.

  blah, blah, blah, i'm rambling again, but somewher out there i'm sure there's someone who can relate to all of what i'm attempting to say. at least, i hope there's a woman out there who is taking notice of me *wink*, because there's only one on my mind, but to ask me to asnwer that question will reveal only one answer: the world.

  i decided i should go back to loving the world and my "one true love" will reveal herself to me. culture is complicted in that it requires words, symbols which are easily misunderstood and can lead to confusion. thus, while my spirited search has ended, so begins a passive beginning which i had hoped to never have to endure. tough luck to my self, since i didnt leave my self a contingency plan, and i had sincerely relied on love to get me through all obstacles i could've (and did) endure.

  you see, my greater plan is known only to me, since i'm the only one who knows the value and truth beind my voice. i am the great joker who governs "my" world. thus, it is my laughter which gives me away, and i know it is  wonderful laugh, which reminds me of the only job i ever want to hold: comedian.

  until i have accomplished my childhood dreams, or until said dreams manifest themselves before me, i can properly leave this world. because i know how to live forever, but i'd be a fool to try to accomplish this mission all on my own. all great leaders were supported by someone, who has usually been their lover. einstein had his cousin, but it took him forever to admit to the world that he loved her more than anyone in the world, and to accept her proposal for marriage. if it can be said that einstein was a fool for this, then i am an equal fool for believing that unrequited love exists for me, because i only had one person in mind when i thought of love, but she has told me that she does not share the same romantic feelings.

  thus, i am left reeling and left to make sense of every step of my life i have taken along the way; a true identity crisis. if i have not lived my life for a woman, then i have lived my life out of love for this world. and the earth is my mother, time is my father, and there is no wife to be seen, because this whole joke is a conundrum knowable only to me, which others fail to understand, because exciting me sets off a series of events which scares my audience. again, i'm a comedian, so find a lie within my tale and my confidence deflates. but dare to believe and our worlds expand like bright stars in an infinite uiverse. infinite possibilities, which require the perfect partner/mate with whom to share all of eternity.

  this boy dreamed the greatest dream and it was life, but it cannot begin until others cede the control they purport to have over me and begin to understand that i am the writer behind my greatest masterpiece, which is my life. and every day i am denied brings me great sadness and it is felt on this earth through the lifeforce we all share, something over which i have some control, but i have only recently discovered said powers.

  anyway, enough said, it's time to try and be productive this wonderful friday evening...

edwin