How high are the stakes in Ko Young-nam's The Shower? Not high at all. A country schoolboy (Lee Yeong-su) allows himself to pursue a city girl (Jo Yun-suk) who's relocated to the family farm because her father's hit hard times and has nowhere else to go. There's little action outside that unless you consider scraping your knee on a rock, getting caught in a run-of-the-mill summer storm or a bad case of the flu a cause for major heart-flutters. And yet this exquisitve slice-of-life flick focused on two adolescents is anything but boring. I'd go so far as to say, it's a dazzler — further proof that feeling, not action, is what most enthralls us most of all.
And what views we get amidst the small moments! The visuals of The Shower are so beautiful that you feel entreated to experience your present surroundings anew, especially nature. All hail the trees! All hail the river! There's plenty of rapturous shots of insects, flowers, birds, oxen, the forest, the fields, the minnows, running water, clouds... Every image feels composed thoughtfully but unaffectedly; the entire movie is a gentle reminder that we walk daily through panoramas, not past backdrops. Existence is deep; first love, the real beginning. As for death, it's got its sting.
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