South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk dies

South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk died on December 11, 2020, at the age of 59.

© AP - Andrew Medichini

Text by: Sophie Torlotin Follow

2 min

One of the great South Korean filmmakers has just died this Friday, December 11.

Kim Ki-duk died at the age of 59 as a result of Covid-19.

Kim Ki-duk will remain known for films with radical aesthetics and his marginal heroes.

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Kim Ki-duk was one of the prominent directors of South Korea's New Wave.

His films, along with those of Hong Sang-soo, Park Chan-wook or Bong Joon-ho, swept through the West in the early 2000s and conquered film festivals. 

But Kim Ki-duk, who grew up in a remote mountain village, was the somewhat rebellious lone wolf of this generation.

His cinema, rather lyrical, distilled a poisonous and strange atmosphere, populated by marginal and silent characters caught in the spiral of more or less desired adventures. 

The Zen serenity of his work

Kim Ki-duk discovered the seventh art when he came to France in 1992 to study painting after considering a career as a soldier and a priest.

It is also France which assured a good reception to its films.

In 2004, 

attracted more than 200,000 spectators, seduced by the Zen serenity of this work following the evolution of the characters' feelings over the seasons. 

Gifted and prolific, making one film per year, Kim Ki-duk was invited to festivals around the world: Locarno, Berlin, Venice, Cannes, winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Mostra in 2012 for 

. 

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