At the 2004 Berlinale he won a Golden Bear for his film “Samaria”. In 2012, the equivalent in Venice, the Golden Lion, followed for his “Pieta”. The South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk (picture) was at the height of his fame. In “Samaria” a schoolgirl prostitutes herself; “Pieta” is about a brutal debt collector whom a self-sacrificing woman helps to improve. Violence, brutality, sexuality were the main themes of the disturbing films by the director, who, according to media reports, died on Friday at the age of 59 as a result of a corona infection. And as the quoted titles show, his films often revolved around Christian motifs.
Kim Ki-duk was what was once called a “scandal director”. This was all the more true when allegations were raised three years ago that he had raped actresses and forced them into spicy scenes that had not been previously agreed. Of course, he was not convicted because there were doubts about the accuracy of the representations. The biography of the later filmmaker was shaped in his youth by a very strict father; He later also experienced oppression during his time in the military, which influenced him as well as a church congregation, which he then joined.
He combined all of this in his visually powerful films in a characteristic way and often supplemented it with contemplative accents. He never made it easy for himself or his audience. His death makes world cinema poorer with one characteristic voice. (Image: B. Pedersen / dpa)
© Mannheimer Morgen, Monday, December 14th, 2020
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