Born in 1960 in a rural village in South Korea and dying in Latvia of Covid-19 in 2020, Kim Ki-duk was a factory worker and a street painter in Paris before turning to film without any training. His films are violent, spare and often almost wordless, and deal with cruelty, desire and redemption. Bad Guy (2001) and The Isle (2000) shocked audiences, and the serene Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (2003) was his international breakthrough. He won the best director prizes at Berlin for Samaritan Girl and at Venice for 3-Iron, and the Golden Lion for Pietà (2012). Allegations of sexual and physical assault by actresses damaged his late career.
Filmography
- The Isle (2000)
- Bad Guy (2001)
- Address Unknown (2001)
- The Coast Guard (2002)
- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (2003)
- 3-Iron (2004)
- Samaritan Girl (2004)
- Time (2006)
- Breath (2007)
- Arirang (2011)
- Pietà (2012)
- Moebius (2013)