First off, people need to stop ranking every Kim Ki Duk movie relative to others. It's not like you see a Stanley Kubrick film, and then say it is OK but is not as good as Doctor Strangelove.<br /><br />This film delves into some of the basic themes he raises in his other movies, jealousy, male desire, etc...<br /><br />The basic plot is that an old man has raised a baby girl until she is about to sexually develop, so she is now a teenager. He has raised her on his boat. He takes people out on fishing trips, needless to say the guys out on the trips take a liking to her, finally a young man comes who she seems to fancy.<br /><br />The basic question is then whether the old man will be able to prevent her from falling in love with this young guy. The name "The Bow" comes from a bow he uses to ward off her potential suitors.<br /><br />Think of that scene in James Dean's "Rebel Without a Cause" where the father of Dean's love interest becomes angry when she still wants to have close physical affection with him, you can tell that buried beneath he has desires for his daughter, and hence he becomes easily angry and strikes out at her.<br /><br />So this is the basic psychoanalytical insight of attraction between father and daughter and the taboo at acts to prevent it from going any further.<br /><br />There is also the age aspect. This old man still desires, but it's plainly obvious that the girl is much to young for him, and that he cannot compete with younger men. So there is a love triangle, affection between daughter and father, the weakness of age, and other foundational themes.<br /><br />This movie will be a appreciated by Kim Ki Duk fans, and anyone who approaches it with an open and non-judgmental mind.