3-Iron

Audiences have always enjoyed love stories. There have been numerous stories told down throughout the ages. Most stories make people feel good. How about something different? Which is the most weirdest love story you have ever see? I'm quite sure you may have seen some. One such weird love story is 3-Iron, a South Korean film, released in 2004. It was written and directed by Kim Ki-duk, who is known for his unconventional stories and characters. 3-iron stars Jae Hee and Lee Seung-yeon as Tae-suk and Sun-hwa.

How is it different from any other story? The answer is that the two lead characters don't talk with each other. And to clear the first query which may come to your mind, they are not dumb. They maintain a silent relationship all throughout the movie, although towards the end, Sun-hwa speaks a few lines but there is no direct verbal interaction between the lead pair. Actually none of the characters talk much. The movie relies highly on emotions and abstract acts. 

3-Iron is a lovestory of Tae-suk, a drifter and Sun-hwa, an abused housewife. Although it is later made known to us that Tae-suk had a good education, we still see him as a drifter. He breaks into people's homes while they are away and stays there. He has good plan for that. He spends his days sticking take-away menus of resturants on the doors and later stops by to check which of them haven't been removed from the doors by their owners. This implies that people who stay in are away and Tae-suk gets in. Tae-suk is not a robber, on the contrary he washes their clothes, repairs their broken appliances, etc.

On one such break-in he meets Sun-hwa, the wife of an abusive man who has gone for a business trip. Since Sun-hwa has hidden herself to grieve, Tae-suk believes that the house is empty and breaks in.  An emotional bond forms between them. Tae-suk even saves Sun-hwa when her husband returns. She leaves her husband and goes with him. Her husband holds a grudge and that is also an important factor which influences the story ahead in a way.

The above events form just the first twenty minutes of the film, I'm really trying hard to not give away more of the story because that would rob you away of a splendid experience. Later you see the characters getting caught in their act of breaking in homes, also they are involved in a murder case and the subsequent imprisonment of Tae-suk. The movie goes ahead with Tae-suk's struggle against all of these odds to join his love in the end. The story ends in a very surprising manner, which is something we cannot anticipate during the first hour of the movie. The story can be boring and hard for someone without patience, trust me you need a lot of patience to soak the act in.

The film was received very well. It has won a lot of accolades around the world. It holds 87% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.