3-Iron
2004
Director: Ki-duk Kim
South Korea

I'll say it first, 3-Iron is definitely one of the best films in 2005 (despite being released in 2004). Director Kim is masterful at directing a film without barely any dialogue. His use of the film image is quite spectacular and at times simple. The most amazing thing about this film is its simplicity. It's storyline is so simple that it makes you wonder why Hollywood hasn't thought of a plot like this.

The story goes like this: A young man breaks into houses where people have gone to vacation, eats people's food, wears their clothes, but not leaving without fixing a couple of things and doing their laundry. One day, the young man breaks into a house of a battered wife and finds out that the wife is still inside. The husband comes back from an overseas meeting to find the young man still inside his house. The battered wife leaves with the young man to live a life she really needs and wants.

What really made me intrigued into this film are the amazing performances by Seung-Yun Lee (the young man) and Seung-Yeon Lee (the battered wife), the two protagonists of the film. They don't feel like actors, they feel like real people who just want to live life to the fullest. They both get into your head and will stay there for days. If this film doesn't get an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film next year, it will be a travesty.

Grade: A+