The first extensive monograph dedicated to the Korean director: moving on the edge for thirty years, Kim Ki-duk physically explored the forthcoming themes of his work as a director – wandering, escape and, especially, survival.
In Kim Ki-duk's films people don't talk, they hit. Relationships are always frontal, direct, decoded, never mediated through language which would neutralize its violence. Flayed, traumatized and continually turning red... Kim Ki-duk's heroes are presented in idyllic and luxurious landscapes, worthy of romantic postcards sent from Korea. Yet the best dramas are played between the flourishing mountain crests and the blue surfaces of the lakes and oceans. Through a filmography as injected with blood as on the edge, Kim Ki-duk shows the still-oozing wounds of a Korean society maltreated by its history with an art of precision and a staging of suffering which is all Far-Eastern refinement.
South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk (1960-2020) is counted among the most prominent directors of the new movement of contemporary cinema while at the same time resolutely remaining outside the cinema industry. From his very first films, he has been noticed at international film festivals such as Berlin (Golden Bear for best director, for Samaritan Girl), Locarno (Coast Guard) or Venice (Silver Lion for 3-Iron). In spite of a growing success (An award at 2011 Cannes Festival for Arirang, Golden Lion in 2012 for Pietà) Kim Ki-duk has favoured independence in his way of working: small budget, fast shooting and strong personal implications which lead him to create his own film sets and accessories.
