Kim Ki-duk: controversial master of cinematic violence
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Prize-winning South Korean film director Kim Ki-duk won global fame with his bold portrayal of extreme violence and human brutality in allegory-rich movies, but was also accused of abusing his actresses.
The controversy around the eccentric filmmaker 鈥 who died of Covid-19 in Latvia on Friday at the age of 59 鈥 raises questions on how to view the cinematic assaults on women that are a hallmark of his films, and the line between fiction and reality.
Kim grew up in a poor family with a violent, Korean War-veteran father, left school at the age of 14 and worked odd factory jobs for years, leaving him with what he described as a 鈥渄eep sense of inferiority.鈥
After completing his mandatory two-year military service 鈥 serving in the Marine Corps 鈥 he moved to France to immerse himself in movies.
Back in South Korea, he directed his first feature in 1996, the low-budget 鈥淐rocodile鈥 about a homeless thug who forms a twisted bond with a woman traumatized by gang rape, and then rapes her again himself.
It set the signature theme of many of Kim鈥檚 later works: tales of male social outcasts exploring the meaning of life through the abusive bonds they form with women, many of them prostitutes, battered by tragic circumstances.
His movies 鈥 many featuring gruesome violence against both males and females, and rapes of women 鈥 divided audiences, with some accusing him of misogyny and others hailing his cinematography and unflinching portrayal of a social underclass rarely seen in other films.
Awards and anger
Kim鈥檚 mostly low-budget movies rarely achieved commercial success, but he began to gain global recognition after 鈥淏irdcage Inn鈥 鈥 a 1998 drama about two women who bond through prostitution 鈥 was screened at the Berlinale.
Controversy over his films also grew: Seo Won, a budding actress who played an ill-fated student-turned-prostitute raped repeatedly in his 2002 drama 鈥淏ad Guy,鈥 described the acting experience as 鈥渁 nightmare鈥 that left her 鈥渢raumatized,鈥 and soon quit the profession.
She was one of several young, obscure actresses handpicked by Kim for leading roles and quickly forgotten afterward.
But Kim鈥檚 works enjoyed huge acclaim at European film festivals where he scooped several awards, starting with the Silver Bear for best director at the 2004 Berlinale for 鈥淪amaritan Girl鈥 鈥 a drama about teenage prostitutes.
The same year, he won Best Director for the romantic drama 鈥3-Iron鈥 at the Venice film festival, where he took the 2012 Golden Lion for best film with 鈥淧ieta,鈥 a dark thriller exploring the themes of sin and belief.
Religious topics often played a central role in Kim鈥檚 movies, including his 2003 鈥淪pring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring鈥 鈥 an uncharacteristically serene film exploring the cycle of life through a Buddhist monk鈥檚 existence.
The critically acclaimed movie was hailed for showing another side of the director鈥檚 talent.
But his star was tarnished in 2017 when a South Korean actress accused him of physically abusing her the previous year on the set of 鈥淢oebius鈥 鈥 a rare example of a woman speaking out in South Korea鈥檚 male-dominated film industry.
Soon another actress accused him of rape, and a spate of other allegations from staffers and performers followed, all of which he denied.
Kim said he had slapped the 鈥淢oebius鈥 actress as part of 鈥渁cting lessons鈥 and was fined by prosecutors.
He insisted that his real life did not resemble his movies, urging fans not to 鈥渄raw conclusions about my personality ... from looking at my films.鈥
But some drew parallels with Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian director whose 1972 film 鈥淟ast Tango in Paris鈥 includes a rape scene featuring a stick of butter that the actress involved said left her feeling angry and 鈥渉umiliated.鈥
鈥淜im was a cinematic maverick who boldly portrayed the emotion, desire and basic instincts of a social underclass in a rough and relentless fashion,鈥 Seoul cultural critic Chung Dal-hae said in a commentary after the accusations emerged.
鈥淏ut now it鈥檚 hard to be immersed in his artistic works knowing that they were based on real-life violence and exploitation.鈥
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