kim ki duk twelfth film and the bow be a minimalist film that manage to be beautiful and creepy and heart wrenching and and a little silly all at the same time . an sixty year old man live on a fishing boat in the middle of the sea with a young girl ( both character be never name ) who he have take care of since she be six and and will soon turn sixteen . on her sixteenth birthday and the old man plan to marry her . everything seem to be go the fine for the couple and until one day a young boy step on the fishing boat and change their life forever . those familiar with kim ki duk film will no doubt find this to be true to his direct form while slow pacing and subtle performance and first class cinematography and a simplistic story and and very little dialog . in fact and the old man and the young girl never say a audible word for the entire length of the film . kim ki duk film often rely on facial expression and gesture to convey the emotion of his character and rather than load of dialog . that be say and some accuse the bow of be one of the director more commercial film and i agree with this thesis and but only up until a point ( without give anything away ) and the end of the bow be kinda bizarre and will seem almost silly to some viewer . one of the film big strength be the score . enchant piano and string help set the bow mood and be crucial to the film . the film score be so prominent that the music itself be almost a important a character a the actor . and in term of act and it strong performance all around . a i mention there be not a lot of dialog in the film and the little of it come from the young boy . even though there no speaking part for two major character and the film act do not suffer . one of kim ki duk big attribute a a director and be that he be able to elicit more emotion from his actor performance with a subtle glance or a mild gesture and than most filmmaker can get with ten minute of dialog . i will caution that some viewer may feel a little disgust by the film story of the relationship between the young girl and the old man . i find it to be a tad creepy at time but i also felt deep sorrow for the old man and a the introduction of the young boy to the boat push the two who be once so close apart . the old man be force to watch helplessly a the ten year relationship he build with the young girl deteriorates . ultimately and only in the end be the viewer able to see that the old man love for the young girl be deep than any type of weird pedophilia urge . result in a tragically beautiful end that straddle the line between be haunt and a bit silly ( some viewer will find the end to be a silly and but once you wrap your brain around it and it make perfect sense ) . bottom line fan of kim ki duk will not be disappoint but neither should the uninitiated . the bow be a great film to show someone if you want to introduce them to asian film and a the story be easy to follow and be not shock and stomach turn like some asian cinema film be .