Kim Ki-duk

Kim Ki-duk (Korean: Kim Ki-deok, December 20, 1960 - December 11, 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter. The biggest feature of Kim Ki-duk's movies is the "hungry spirit", which is shot in a "combat style" in a short time with the lowest budget. Rather than pursuing box office success, he is more committed to directly and even brutally expressing the conflict between desire and ethics; as well as the evil side of human civilization, which makes his film style very unique. Kim Ki-duk's works are often included in major international film festivals overseas, especially in Europe, and are highly praised in European film festivals. Kim Ki-duk is the only Korean director to win honors at the world's three major international film festivals, including the Cannes Un Certain Regard Award, the Venice Golden Lion for Best Film, and the Berlin Silver Bear for Best Director. However, Kim Ki-duk is regarded as an "outsider" in the domestic film industry in South Korea. Audiences have responded coldly to his works, and critics have received mixed reviews. The film with the best box office so far is "Mud Lover", with about 700,000 moviegoers. On December 11, 2020, he died of COVID-19 in Latvia at the age of 59.