Product Description

Mysterious drifter Tae-suk enters other peoples' lives as easily as he breaks into their unoccupied homes. Instead of stealing their riches, he repays his hosts' unknowing hospitality by fixing broken items, cleaning up, even doing their laundry. But when he sneaks into a sprawling mansion, he discovers a beautiful, lonely wife named Sun-hwa, trapped in a loveless marriage. Without saying a word, the pair begin an erotic game of cat-and-mouse, until her abusive husband returns home, unleashing a shocking burst of violence. Tae-suk defends Sun-hwa with the aid of her husband's golf club. The lovers run away together finding domestic bliss inhabiting strangers' homes. Later, when Tae-suk is framed for a murder, even prison walls can't keep them apart for good.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15908 in DVD
• Brand: YEON,LEE SEUNG
• Released on: 2005-09-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Korean
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
Words really do get in the way in 3-Iron, a strange, poignant South Korean film from director Kim Ki-Duk (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring) in which the central character doesn't utter a single word. It's not explained why the puck never speaks, but it adds an element of mysticism to this love story that's at once humorous and disturbing. In this case, the knight in shining armor, Tae-Suk (Hee Jae) is a vagabond who supports himself by breaking into people's homes when they're on vacation. But rather than steal possessions, he cooks himself a meal, carefully washes the dishes, takes a bath, does their laundry, fixes anything broken, sleeps in their pajamas, and leaves each home spic and span. One day he trespasses on the home of a battered wife (Seung-yon Lee) who's still home. Fascinated, she leaves her husband and joins in his adventures, until one of their random break-ins gets them in trouble and the couple is forced apart.

Adding in a reliance on some stunning visuals, 3-Iron does a good job filling itself out in a non-implicit way. In this case, compliments and banter aren't needed to tell you that the pair has found a bond that no one can wrest away from them. The ending may tickle suspended reality (it's either becoming supernatural or someone's a lot more nimble than we thought), but it's still a poetic conclusion to this twisted fairy tale. --Ellen A. Kim

From The New Yorker
Kim Ki-duk ("Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring") wrote, directed, and edited this exquisite modern morality tale that doubles as a ghost story. A handsome young man (Jae Hee) cruises the city on his motorcycle, canvassing neighborhoods both rich and poor and taping a printed flyer to each doorknob. When he returns and finds a flyer undisturbed, he expertly picks the lock and makes himself at home. He bathes, has a drink, prepares a meal from food found in the refrigerator, takes a few digital photos of himself, cleans, makes repairs, and leaves. He thinks he is moving through the world without disturbing it, but there are consequences to his actions. Lee Seung-yeon plays a woman who accompanies the interloper for a time; the two never exchange a word but share a tender romance and a scary, sometimes violent adventure. In Korean.-Ken Marks -Ken Marks
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Love It!
The beauty of a love story without words... This is now my favorite movie!

Not your typical Hollywood love story.
3-Iron is for people who love a good love story, but find most of the stuff Hollywood cranks out to be trite, cloying, or even downright nauseating. (Yes Hugh Grant--This means you.)
The tale of a man who is more or less homeless. He breaks into peoples homes when they're away and makes himself at home. He repays them by doing laundry and fixing things about the place. Then one day, he discovers he isn't alone in one of the homes.
One of the most impressive things about this movie is the almost complete lack of dialog by the two leading actors. One of them has a couple of lines, and only one of them is spoken between them. It's a quiet quirky movie and in the end takes on a quality of almost magical realism. (I can't believe I just said 'Magical Realism'. I can't stand that phrase. It's just an invention of literary snobs who can't bring themselves to say fantasy. Sorry got sidetracked there.)
A great deal is revealed about the two lovers with very few details, and their journey together often runs astray of those they encounter, but in the end they find their own sort of happiness, unconventional as it may be.

Another Nicely Done Love Story
what I like about Korean movies is that they often seem so weird in the beginning and even the middle, and then unfold into incredible sweetness and love. Thus one is no exception.