Kim Ki-duk

Director

December 20, 1960 (59 years)

† December 11, 2020

Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang, South Korea

Biography

Kim Ki-duk (December 20, 1960 – December 11, 2020) was a prolific South Korean writer-director of idiosyncratic, allegorical, and often extreme and transgressive arthouse dramas, best known for "The Isle" (2000), "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring" (2003), "Samaritan Girl" (2004), "3-Iron" (2004) and "Pieta" (2012). His films have received many distinctions on the international festival circuit.

Filmography

7.8

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

An isolated lake, where an old monk lives in a small floating temple. The monk has a young boy living with him, learning to become a monk. We watch as seasons and years pass by.

6.5

Bad Guy

A pimp enforcer takes revenge on a woman who rejected his advances by tricking her into prostitution, but complications arise.

6.6

Moebius

A wife, overwhelmed with hatred for her husband, inflicts an unspeakable wound on their son, as the family heads towards horrific destruction.

7.8

3-Iron

A drifter lives in people's houses while they are away and repays them by doing chores for them. His life changes when he meets a beautiful woman who wants to escape her unhappy marriage.

6.9

The Isle

Mute Hee-Jin is working as a clerk in a fishing resort in the Korean wilderness; selling baits, food and occasionally her body to the fishing tourists. One day she falls in love with Hyun-Shik, who is on the run from the police, and rescues him with a fish hook when he tries to commit suicide.

6.9

Samaritan Girl

Jae-Young is an amateur prostitute who sleeps with men while her best friend Yeo-Jin "manages" her, fixing dates, taking care of the money, and making sure the coast is clear. When Jae-Young falls in love with one of those men, she suppresses her feelings towards him in respect of her friend who's jealous.

6.4

Birdcage Inn

Jin-a, a young prostitute, moves into a seaside motel called the Birdcage Inn, run by a dysfunctional family. Struggling with her circumstances and the family's treatment, she forms an unlikely bond with the daughter, Hye-mi. As they navigate love, betrayal, and personal growth, their friendship ultimately leads to a deeper understanding and a chance for redemption.

7.1

Address Unknown

Romances end in blood and the frail hopes of individuals are torn apart in a vile karmic continuity of colonialism, civil war and occupation. After surviving Japanese colonization, Korea became the first war zone of the Cold War. The legacy of war remains today in this divided country.

7.0

Pieta

A loan shark is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.

5.6

Human, Space, Time and Human

A group of very different people set sail on an old warship. The passengers include a senator with his son, a newly-wed couple, a mysterious old man, a group of sex workers and a gang of violent criminals. At first the aggressive behaviour of the thugs and their leader is directed at the first class passengers, but then more and more indiscriminately against the rest of those on board. Rape is followed by murder and it’s not long before the first of numerous and increasingly brutal mutinies takes place.

5.1

Venice 70: Future Reloaded

Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.

6.7

Breath

A condemned prisoner slowly falls in love with the married female artist who decorates his prison cell. Jin is a convicted killer awaiting execution on Death Row; Yeon is a lonely artist locked in a loveless marriage.

6.2

One on One

On May 9th, a female high school student was brutally murdered. There are 7 suspects and 7 shadows that terrorize them. Who are they and which one of them is you?

6.9

Time

Consumed by jealousy, a woman takes an extreme step and undergoes surgery for a new face. Although her lover of 2 years misses her, he falls in love with the new face, not knowing it's the same woman.

7.4

The Net

A poor North Korean fisherman finds himself an accidental defector, and is groomed to be a spy by an ambitious South Korean military officer.

6.9

The Bow

On a fishing boat at sea, a 60-year old man has been raising a girl since she was a child. It is agreed that they will get married on her 17th birthday. They live a quiet and secluded life, renting the boat to day fishermen and practicing strange divination rites. Their life changes when a teenage student comes aboard.

6.6

Dream

In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.

6.2

The Coast Guard

A member of Coast Guard Platoon 23, Private Kang monitors a high-infiltration stretch of beach lined with barbed-wire fencing. Driven by the belief that killing a spy is the highest honor, he waits for a chance to prove his worth.

6.3

Crocodile

Under the Han River lives Crocodile, a rugged member of the lumpenproletariat who exists from schemes and stealing. His position as a scavenger of society undermines South Korea’s boasts of its newfound economic position as an Asian Tiger. One day, Crocodile finds a girl floating in his river.

5.5

Real Fiction

A repressed artist receives ritual abuse from those who pass him as he paints portraits in the park. Gradually becoming more frustrated, anger builds up within the artist, leading him to embark upon a quest to gain revenge on all those who have humiliated him.