The Kim Ki-duk Page

compiled by Darcy Paquet



   More than any other Korean director, the films and reputation of Kim Ki-duk have been characterized by a sense of disconnect. Kim himself disavows any commonalities with other Korean filmmakers of his generation such as Hong Sang-soo or Lee Chang-dong, due to his lower-class upbringing and lack of formal training in film. In terms of subject matter, Kim has focused on marginalized and disenfranchised characters who operate outside the main currents of middle and upper-class Korean society. Kim is also a rare case of a director who has won accolades and found box-office success overseas but -- with a few exceptions -- has largely failed to connect with Korean critics or audiences. In terms of his influences, his aesthetics, the stories he tells, and his local and international reception, Kim Ki-duk seems to inhabit a world all his own.

Kim was born in 1960 in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Provice (south of Gangwon Province). His family moved to Seoul when he was nine, and there he attended agricultural training school before dropping out at age 17 to take up work in factories. From age 20 to 25 he served in the marines, where he is said to have fit in well. Afterwards he spent two years at a church for the visually impaired with the thought of becoming a preacher. Then in 1990, scraping up all the money he had to buy a plane ticket, he traveled to Paris where he spent two years selling his paintings (a lifelong hobby) on the street. Kim says he went to the movie theater for the first time in his life at this time, and remembers being especially impressed with Silence of the Lambs and Leos Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf.

After returning to Korea he took up his newfound interest in cinema by writing scripts for local screenplay contests. In 1993 he won the top award from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting for A Painter and a Criminal Condemned to Death. This was followed up in 1994 by a third place award in the KOFIC (Korean Film Council, then the Korea Motion Picture Promotion Corporation) Screenplay Competition for Double Exposure, and a first place award in the same competition in 1995 for Jaywalking.

In 1996 Kim made his debut Crocodile with production company Joyoung Films. The film tells the story of a man living at the edge of the Han River in Seoul, who saves a woman trying to commit suicide. He then proceeds to rape and abuse her until an odd relationship develops between them. A keen promoter of his work from the very beginning, Kim says he contacted journalists directly to encourage them to come to the film's press screening, but little of them showed interest. He got a more receptive response from the Pusan International Film Festival, who screened Crocodile and almost all of his subsequent features in the Korea Panorama section, helping to launch his international career. (In 2002, Kim's The Coast Guard would screen as the festival's opening film.)

From this point on Kim would shoot 1-2 low-budget films per year, developing a reputation for shooting quickly and efficiently on location. In 1998 his third film Birdcage Inn screened at Karlovy Vary, then he received his breakthrough when The Isle -- produced by local powerhouse Myung Films -- was selected to screen in competition at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival. The film lived up to its billing as a controversial shocker when an Italian journalist passed out during a press screening, during a particularly gruesome scene involving fish hooks. Although the film was not awarded by the main jury, it firmly established Kim's reputation in Europe.

However most local critics were unimpressed, with feminist critics in particular calling him a "monster", a "psycho", or a "useless filmmaker." This ignited an ongoing feud between the director and his critics, culminating in Kim's announcement that he would no longer give interviews with the local press (a promise that was soon broken).

The next couple years saw more high-profile festival invitations (Address Unknown to Venice and Bad Guy to Berlin, though Cannes showed less interest in the filmmaker), and Kim's first local box-office hit with Bad Guy. The film's commercial success was chalked up to the sudden popularity of lead actor Jo Jae-hyun after starring in a hit TV drama, but a high-profile, seductive marketing campaign by local major CJ Entertainment also contributed. Kim's next work The Coast Guard featured top local star Jang Dong-gun (the only star casting of Kim's career), but it ultimately performed under expectations.

A major shift occurred in Kim's career with his ninth, Buddhist-themed film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. Although he continued to focus on marginalized elements of society, his work took on a more consciously spiritual aspect, downplaying violence and foregrounding themes of redemption and foregiveness. Kim's softer style played well with foreign audiences -- Spring, Summer... and 3-Iron were strong successes in Europe and North America -- and with festival juries. In 2004, Kim won Best Director awards from Berlin for Samaritan Girl and from Venice for 3-Iron. (Each film, incidentally, was shot in a space of about two weeks)

Kim has undisputed strengths as a filmmaker, primarily his knack for evocative imagery and his ability to propel his narratives forward with virtually no dialogue (both of which help make his works more accessible to foreign viewers). As a self-taught director his films -- particularly those of his early career -- display certain rough edges. And to date he remains a source of controversy. Although in recent years many Korean reviewers have warmed to his films, critical opinion is far from unanimous. His portrayal of female characters in particular remains a bone of contention. Although he will never win over all his detractors, Kim has by now established himself as one of Korea's most famous and distinctive directors.


Note: Kim Ki-duk has the same name as another filmmaker who directed over 50 features in the 1960s and 1970s, including such classics as Five Marines (1961), Barefooted Youth (1964), South and North (1965), and Grand Evil Master Yonggary (1967). They are not related.

Kim Ki-duk




Dream




Breath




3-Iron




Samaritan Girl




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




Bad Guy




Address Unknown




The Isle




Birdcage Inn

Filmography

Dream (2008)
Breath (2007)
Time (2006)
The Bow (2005)
3-Iron (2004)
Samaritan Girl (2004)
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
The Coast Guard (2002)
Bad Guy (2002)
Address Unknown (2001)
Real Fiction (2000)
The Isle (2000)
Birdcage Inn (1998)
Wild Animals (1997)
Crocodile (1996)


Essays and Thoughts

It Hurts: Analytical Screening
by Larisa & Leonid Alekseychuk


Awards and Honors

2009 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, 7th Orbit Award to Dream

2008 Fantasporto Film Festival, Orient Express Special Jury Award to Breath

2004 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia), Best Director, Audience Award, Postimees Jury Prize, Estonian Film Critics Award to 3-Iron

2004 Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain), Golden Spike for Best Film to 3-Iron

2004 Vladivostok International Film Festival, Grand Prix for Best Feature to Spring, Summer...

2004 Venice International Film Festival, Silver Lion for Best Director, FIPRESCI Award, and Leoncino d'Oro (Agiscuola) to 3-Iron

2004 Romanian Film Festival Anonimul, Best Cinematography to Spring, Summer...

2004 Las Palmas International Film Festival (Canary Islands, Spain), the Golden Lady Harimaguada award for Best Film and Best Cinematography award to Spring, Summer...

2004 Berlin International Film Festival, Silver Bear for Best Director to Samaritan Girl

2004 Academy Awards, Korea's Official Selection for Best Foreign Language Film to Spring, Summer... (not nominated for the final five)

2003 San Sebastian International Film Festival (Spain), Audience Award to Spring, Summer...

2003 Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland), Junior Jury Award, CICAE/ARTE prize, NETPAC Award for Asian Cinema, and Don Quijote Award to Spring, Summer...

2003 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Czech Republic), FIPRESCI Award, NETPAC Award for Asian Cinema, and Prize of the Town Karlovy Vary to The Coast Guard

2002 Fukuoka Asian Film Festival (Japan), Grand Prix to Bad Guy

2002 Cinema Novo Film Festival (Belgium), Amakourou Prize from young jury to Address Unknown

2002 Grand Bell Awards (Korea), Best New Actress to Seo Won for her role in Bad Guy

2001 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films, Golden Crow for Best Film to The Isle

2001 Oporto International Film Festival (Portugal), Special Jury Award and Best Actress to The Isle

2001 International Film Festival of Moscow, (not the more famous Moscow Int'l Film Festival) Special Jury Prize to The Isle

2000 Venice International Film Festival, NETPAC Special Mention to The Isle

References

Acquarello. "A Divine Tragedy: Kim Ki-duk Searches for Redemption in The Samaritan Girl." Senses of Cinema, May 2004.

Chun, Kimberly. "The Drowned World of Kim Ki-duk." AsianWeek, April 8-14, 2004, Vol 25, No. 32, p 16.

Hummell, Volker. "Interview with Kim Ki-duk." Senses of Cinema, March-April 2002.

Knoll, Corina. "Unlikely Direction: Kim Ki Duk's got a different direction for Korean Cinema." Koream Journal, October 2003. pp 64-67.

Lee, Hae-Jin. "Kim Ki-duk: From Crocodile to Address Unknown." Seoul: LJ Film Co., 2001.

Paquet, Darcy. "Case Study: The Coast Guard." Screen International #1375, Oct 4-10, 2002, p.17.

Paquet, Darcy. "Close Up: Kim Ki-duk." Screen International #1353, Apr 19-25, 2002, p.14.

Rayns, Tony. "Sexual Terrorism: The Strange Case of Kim Ki-duk." Film Comment, Vol 40, No.6, (November/December, 2004): 50-51.

Seveon, Julien. "KIM Ki-duk: An Exclusive Interview with Korea's Controversial Filmmaker." Asian Cult Cinema 39.

Slater, Ben. "Tony Reigns." (Article is a response to Tony Rayns Film Comment article on Kim Ki-duk.) Harry Lime Theme Blog, 11/26/04.

Totaro, Donato. "The Isle." In Bowyer, Justin, Ed.: The Cinema of Japan and Korea. London: Wallflower Press, 2004.

White, Jerry. "The Isle: Overexcited By Fishhooks." Asian Cult Cinema 38.

Yecies, Brian and Yecies, Aegyung Shim. "Korean Post New Wave Film Director Series: KIM Ki-Duk." Screening the Past, November 21, 2002.



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