It was a ‘gentle’ reminder that got me working on this article; but I should say there aren’t many things ‘gentle’ in a Kim Ki-duk film. Being a student of cinema I am always fascinated with the kind of stories that Korean cinema comes up with. It is sometimes awe-inspiring and sometimes outright bizarre. Some of the visuals can make you cringe and Kim Ki-duk has a dubious distinction of being a ‘master’ at it.
Although my first exposure to Korean Cinema was Park Chan-wook’s brilliant neo-noir thriller ‘Oldboy’ (2003), I gradually came to know about Kim Ki-duk. ‘The Isle’ (2000) which gained notoriety for its gruesome scenes was my first experience of the twisted world that Kim Ki-duk can create on screen. Although the movie has some disturbing content, the composition of shots tells you something about the abilities of the film maker. It’s an odd combination of brutal and beautiful imagery. To be honest I wasn’t much impressed with ‘The Isle’.
But then came ‘Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring’ (2003) which is considered by many as the best work of Kim Ki-duk. Now, this movie is truly spiritual, almost zen-like. The journey of a young monk through the different seasons of his life is captured stunningly. The film teaches you many things on a philosophical level but never becomes didactic. Kim Ki-duk’s characters never preach on screen in fact they barely talk. It is their actions and the situations they encounter which tells you a lot of things. This is easily one of the greatest Asian movies ever made after 2000.
Even though his filmography consists of more than 20 films, some of them were just there to put in the numbers and didn’t do much justice to his talent. After suffering through depression because of the untoward incidents that happened during the filming of ‘Dream’ (2008) he made a comeback with the documentary ‘Arirang’ in 2011. He was back to his best (or ‘worst’ as aesthetic movie-goers might believe) with the ultra-violent ‘Pieta’ (2012) which had its share of controversy because of the violence and the Oedipal relationship between the two main characters.
Unfortunately, his reputation suffered a blow because of the sexual assault allegations against him. Many Koreans believe that Kim Ki-duk shouldn’t be considered as the face of Korean Cinema but there’s no denying the fact that it is he who brought the new wave in the Korean Film Industry and ended up inspiring a generation of film makers. What Kim Ki-duk leaves behind as his legacy is an unbridled passion for cinema where sometimes ethics and traditional values were side-lined. His cinema was uncompromised, raw and unapologetic. ∎
Nithin G Tom is a film enthusiast; and a professor of commerce and management by profession.studies.
