Pieta

The world – well, a tiny fraction of it – last saw South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk (‘The Isle’) in ‘Arirang’ – a semi-autobiographical doc in which he appeared to be having a breakdown. Now he’s back in action, and this grisly story tells of a sadistic money lender who mellows when a woman claiming to be his long-lost mother enters his life and offers him sexual pleasure. But so determined is Kim to shock that it’s hard to take him seriously. The jury at the 2012 Venice Film Festival clearly disagreed and gave him the hugely prestigious Golden Lion.