"3-Iron" is a very odd, idiosyncratic work from South Korean filmmaker Ki-duk Kim. In the highly unusual premise, Tae-suk is a young, golf-obsessed homeless man who breaks into the houses and apartments of people who are away on either business trips or vacations - not to steal from them but simply to have a comfortable place to stay temporarily. In one of those homes, he meets a beautiful young woman whose husband physically and mentally abuses her and with whom Tae-suk strikes up a strange but meaningful relationship. Together, they roam from empty residence to empty residence, experiencing many strange events and encounters as they go.
In the film's most bizarre conceit, Tae-suk and Sun-hwa never say a single word either to each other or to anyone else throughout the course of the movie. This puts an added strain not only on the actors who must convey all their characters' thoughts and emotions through gestures and facial expressions, but on the audience as well. Indeed, many people may shut this movie off out of simple frustration and confusion. Others, however, searching for the different and the offbeat, may find the movie strangely compelling and even quite touching. Kim creates a world that becomes increasingly more illusory as the story unfolds, to the point that, by the final scenes, we no longer have any idea what is "real" and what is not. "3-Iron" is a slow-moving, patience-demanding work that draws us into its enigmatic world and that truly pays off in the end.
In the film's most bizarre conceit, Tae-suk and Sun-hwa never say a single word either to each other or to anyone else throughout the course of the movie. This puts an added strain not only on the actors who must convey all their characters' thoughts and emotions through gestures and facial expressions, but on the audience as well. Indeed, many people may shut this movie off out of simple frustration and confusion. Others, however, searching for the different and the offbeat, may find the movie strangely compelling and even quite touching. Kim creates a world that becomes increasingly more illusory as the story unfolds, to the point that, by the final scenes, we no longer have any idea what is "real" and what is not. "3-Iron" is a slow-moving, patience-demanding work that draws us into its enigmatic world and that truly pays off in the end.