Three people live in a remote Buddhist monastery near Mount Chonan: Hyegok, the old master; Yong Nan, a young man who has left his extended family in the city to seek enlightenment, and an orphan lad Haejin, whom Hyegok has brought to the monastery to raise as a monk. The story is mostly Yong Nan's, told in flashbacks: how he came to the monastery, his brief return to the city, his vacillation between the turbulence of the world and his hope to overcome passions and escape the idea of self. We also see Hyegok as a teacher, a protector, and a father figure, and we watch Haejin make his way as a curious and nearly self-sufficient child.

Goldener Leopard, Filmfestival von Locarno 1989; Preis der Internationalen Filmkritik; Preis der Ökumenischen Jury; Preis der Jugend.

«Wie ein Zittern der Erde, kurz vor einem Beben.»
Der Spiegel

"Ein überwältigender Film, der die Normen sprengt."
Le Quotidien de Paris

«In gazing into the physical world with a fixity, clarity and depth rarely found in the cinema, "Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?" goes about as far as a film can go in conjuring a meditative state.» New York Times

"Rührt an das Wesen des Lebens, der Elemente und der menschlichen Bahn in seiner ewigen Bewegung. Ein magischer und universeller Film."
La Suisse

"Ein Film, der von einem anderen Planeten zu uns zu kommen scheint."
La Repubblica

"Perlen des Orients. Kosmisches Kino."
Le Monde

"Wie Tarkowski hat Bae einen poetischen Film geschaffen, der fast schon Musik ist."
Il Giorno