Ki-Duk Kim

[Mark C. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark C.]

I've decided recently to get caught up with some Korean films that I've missed out on the last decade.

Starting with Ki-Duk Kim, who I've heard lots of good things about, I purchased TIME (2006).

I want to check out more of his films and I am looking for reccomendations.

Didn't see a thread for this director so why not start a new one.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

You made a great choice with Time. Phenomenal film, one of his best. Also check out:

The Isle (2000)
Bad Guy (2001)
Samaritan Girl (2004)
3-Iron (2004)
Pietí  (2012)

I still need to see Moebius but I have a feeling I'll love it.

[Mark C. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark C.]

You made a great choice with Time. Phenomenal film, one of his best.

Indeed what a great film and a very original story, I really enjoyed it, and is probably one of the best films I've seen in months.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Indeed what a great film and a very original story, I really enjoyed it, and is probably one of the best films I've seen in months.

I have a feeling you'll be saying the same thing with each Kim film you watch. He's consistently one of the most interesting filmmakers working today. Whenever he has something new out I pay attention, its bound to be miles ahead of what most are doing in terms of ideas. The Isle in particular is one of the best films from the last 20 years. One of those fell like you've been bit by a bus once its over type of films. And that feeling is never lost no matter how many times you see it.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

Although these days his output seems somewhat familiar in terms of ideas / execution, I would say that his earlier films are indeed worthy of repeated viewings and will no doubt leave a lasting impression on the viewer. I would also agree he is one of a handful of Korean (asian??) directors who continue to push the boundaries of art / cinema in a marketplace full of "safe" movies that usually pander to the lowerst common denominator of cinema goers....

My personal favorite??.....BAD GUY...I woudl personally start at the beginning of his output...you can see the progression in his work, the recurring themes and ideas as well as his development as a filmaker...

I would also recommend checking out LEE, SANG-WOO's movies (the director NOT the popular Korean actor!!!)...He started out as Kim Ki-duk's assistant director before going on to make his own moives....You can tell they share a lot of similarities...one of his movies is MY MOTHER IS A WHORE...NOT for all tastes, but if you like Kim Ki duk, you should ceck him out...

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

I've seen all of Kim's films from Birdcage Inn (1998) until Dream (2008). Time (2006) was actually the film where he started losing my interest. It was still ok, but a bit too melodramatic. The ones that came after that had some lovely parts in them, but didn't have the magic overall IMO.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring is my favourite of his films, followed by Isle, Three Iron, and Bad Guy.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Time (2006) was actually the film where he started losing my interest. It was still ok, but a bit too melodramatic.

Perhaps but I think if you're going to deal with the extreme behavior that love and jealousy drive people too a bit of melodrama comes with the territory.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Bad Guy is getting an English friendly Blu-ray release in Korea on 9/7/15.

http://www.yesasia.com/bad-guy-blu-r...0-en/info.html

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Anyone else heard about this book on Kim: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books...252036699.html

Kim Ki-duk

A searing study of a controversial international auteur

This study investigates the controversial motion pictures written and directed by the independent filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, one of the most acclaimed Korean auteurs in the English-speaking world. Propelled by underdog protagonists who can only communicate through shared corporeal pain and extreme violence, Kim's graphic films have been classified by Western audiences as belonging to sensationalist East Asian "extreme" cinema, and Kim has been labeled a "psychopath" and "misogynist" in South Korea.

Drawing upon both Korean-language and English-language sources, Hye Seung Chung challenges these misunderstandings, recuperating Kim's oeuvre as a therapeutic, yet brutal cinema of Nietzschean ressentiment (political anger and resentment deriving from subordination and oppression). Chung argues that the power of Kim's cinema lies precisely in its ability to capture, channel, and convey the raw emotions of protagonists who live on the bottom rungs of Korean society. She provides historical and postcolonial readings of victimization and violence in Kim's cinema, which tackles such socially relevant topics as national division in Wild Animals and The Coast Guard and U.S. military occupation in Address Unknown. She also explores the religious and spiritual themes in Kim's most recent works, which suggest possibilities of reconciliation and transcendence.

"The definitive work on Kim Ki-duk. Hye Seung Chung consistently brings new insights and an original perspective to this divisive director's work."--Daniel Martin, Queen's University Belfast

Hye Seung Chung is an assistant professor of film and media studies in the department of communication studies at Colorado State University and the author of Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance.

Also, why hasn't Amen (2011) been released on DVD? Or has it and I'm just shit at looking for stuff?

[AngelGuts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AngelGuts]

I've seen all of Kim's films from Birdcage Inn (1998) until Dream (2008). Time (2006) was actually the film where he started losing my interest. It was still ok, but a bit too melodramatic. The ones that came after that had some lovely parts in them, but didn't have the magic overall IMO.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring is my favourite of his films, followed by Isle, Three Iron, and Bad Guy.

Good choices, Takuma.

I also lost some interest with TIME, but also THE BOW.

Favorites are THE ISLE, BAD GUY, BIRDCAGE INN, CROCODILE, PIETA, and SPRING, SUMMER---

I was a bit disappointed with MOEBIUS because early reviews raised my expectations to a ridiculous degree.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Watched Dream the other day. Typical Kim, very poetic and symbolic and actually uses dreams in a way that doesn't feel as if it had been done a million times before in other films. I loved how it dives into strange territory almost immediately with little to no skepticism from the main characters which was refreshing. Quite funny and even sweet at times. Loved the scenes with the two trying to keep each other awake, a bit of lightness before the inevitable pain that Kim seems to love inflicting on his characters either by way of mental anguish or having them stick sharp objects in themselves. The two leads were great and had natural chemistry so the film never dragged even when it seemed like all they were doing was staring at each other. Na-yeong Lee being unbearably adorable didn't hurt either.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

South Korean director Kim Ki-duk sued for alleged violence on set, adding unscripted sex scene

The Golden Lion-winning director has been accused of slapping the 41-year-old actress, whose identity has not been revealed, while filming 2013 Venice title Moebius. The actress alleges that Kim also forced her to take part in a violent sex scene which was not initially included in the script...

Kim's producer, who usually handles media relations, was not available for comment for THR but has been quoted by Dong-A Ilbo as saying, "It is true that there was slapping, but it was part of giving instructions for an assault scene," but that the filmmaker never pressured her for an unscripted sex scene.

Gotta wonder why this mysterious actress waited 4 years after the fact to sue.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

More on this here:

http://variety.com/2017/film/asia/ki...medium=twitter

"The case has been assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and prosecutors are currently looking into the case. The Federation of Korean Movie Workers' Union will hold a press conference on Aug. 8."

[AngelGuts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AngelGuts]

One of my favorite filmmakers:

For me, CROCODILE, THE ISLE, BIRDCAGE INN, ADDRESS UNKNOWN, BAD GUY, PIETA, SPRING, SUMMER, etc..., 3-IRON, and autobiographical doco ARIRANG.

I like mOBIUS, but was a bit disappointed.

Other recent films, with exception of PIETA, haven't grabbed me like the early titles, although his most recent THE NET and STOP are quite good, though not traditional Ki-Duk Kim.

I like the films where he focuses on enclosed cultures in fascinating locations.

[AngelGuts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AngelGuts]

Very adorable, Tom.