Often people ask for forgiveness, plead for help, or instruct others what to do, as if the mere words coming out of their mouth had some magical meaning.  In this word-saturated society where the meaning of words has been washed out into faded jumbles of verbal explanations, people use words without any form of contemplation.  Words without thought or feeling no longer provide any meaning, as actions often contradict the meaning of the word.  This leaves the society with empty and hollow words that have no more value.  When words have no meaning, action transcends into an interpretation of the persona of an individual, as actions are the embodiment of thoughts and feelings.  3-Iron illustrates the notion of meaninglessness in speech through a sublime portrayal of actions that speak more than the utterance of any character.

Transiently Tae-suk (Hee Jae) flows between different socioeconomic neighborhoods on his BMW motorcycle, as he tapes take-out menus on the doors of different homes.  His purpose brings the notion of dubious intention, as he later returns in order to find the ones that have not been removed from the door, which suggests that the homeowner is not at home.  Tae-suk carries a classy shiny locksmith box around with him that he uses to break in through the front door into the homes that still have the take-out menu taped on the door.  Initially, the audience judges Tae-suk's actions by placing him in a category for criminals; however, patience will provide a surprise for the audience.

Through one of Tae-suk's entries to a stranger's house the audience get to witness his encounter with a woman, Sun-hwa (Seung-yeon Lee), who has been severely beaten by her husband.  At first she merely observes him, as he is unaware of her presence.  He goes about doing what he does every time he breaks into different homes.  Eventually, she appears for him, which initially frightens him.  In silence Tae-suk takes off on his motorcycle, but after some contemplation he returns to find her being abused once again.  This is Tae-suk's turning point in the film, as he decides to interact with the help of an 3-Iron golf club and a couple of golf balls.

What is striking in this story is Tae-suk's silence, as he does not utter a word.  He does not even talk with the beautiful Sun-hwa who runs off with him, as she follows him innocently and trustingly wherever he goes.  Through her willingness to follow him, she adopts his way of life and his silence.  Together they form a limitless bond of silent devotion, as they grow closer to each other through each other's actions.  The actions display their personal feelings and thoughts, which display their true identity while the world around them continues to spread the verbal nonsense.

Once again, Ki-duk Kim succeeds in mesmerizing the audience through the title 3-Iron, which has the original title Bin-jip that translates Empty House.  Even in the title Ki-duk Kim provides symbolism that has a dual allegorical meaning, as it refers to the silence.  This silence could suggest absence and solitude while it could also provide an opportunity to see the truth.   The second interpretation is a more complex explanation that is further evolved through Tae-suk's drawing in his hand of an eye, which also has its own symbolic meaning.  The symbol of an eye in the hand combined with silence rises the question of whether words provide the truth, as they are easily manipulated while actions cannot be concealed, as they can be observed and felt.  Maybe, this is a far-fetched theory, however, Tae-suk's silence and actions do the only speaking for him.

Together with the symbolism and cerebral presentation of the theme, the audience gets to come into contact with breathtaking cinematography.  The camerawork enhances each scene, which is cleverly put together with detailed mise-en-scene and wonderful framing.  Ki-duk Kim who also wrote the script manages to unveil a cinematic experience with very limited writing, and instead focus on the importance of what one can see and feel.  This eventually leads the audience through a 90-minute superb journey where golf balls, actions, and words are tossed around in a brilliant composition.

DIRECTED BY

COUNTRY

South Korea / Japan

Filmography links and data courtesy of