Kim Ki-Duk was born in Bonghwa, north of Kyungsang Province, South Korea on 20th December 1960. Growing up in a mountainous village, he was a mischievous boy who occasionally broke other children's arms, or show his peers strange electronic gadgets of his own creation. When he turned nine, he moved to Seoul with his parents. He entered an agriculture training school, but he was forced to give up junior high after his older brother was dismissed from school. Going through factories during his adolescent years, he joined the marines when he turned 20.
Kim adapted well to military life, spending five years as a noncommissioned officer. This experience may have served as material for the rich details of brotherhood shared among the men of his films. After leaving the marines, Kim spent two years at a church for the visually impaired with the intention of becoming a preacher while continuing the painting he started as a child. In 1990, with only a plane ticket in his possession, he left for Paris. He manages to earn a living by organizing ateliers or selling his painting. When Kim arrived in Paris he considered 'production by manual labor the only worthwhile thing in life, while regarding culture as a mere luxury,' but his experiences in the city inspired him with new views.Upon his return from France, Kim focused on developing a film script for the next six months. He received the good news that two of his scripts had been selected in a contest. Unfamiliar with composition, not to mention spelling, he diligently worked on his scripts while urging himself to focus on matters of immediate concern and not on a distant future that seemed beyond his reach.
Kim adapted well to military life, spending five years as a noncommissioned officer. This experience may have served as material for the rich details of brotherhood shared among the men of his films. After leaving the marines, Kim spent two years at a church for the visually impaired with the intention of becoming a preacher while continuing the painting he started as a child. In 1990, with only a plane ticket in his possession, he left for Paris. He manages to earn a living by organizing ateliers or selling his painting. When Kim arrived in Paris he considered 'production by manual labor the only worthwhile thing in life, while regarding culture as a mere luxury,' but his experiences in the city inspired him with new views.Upon his return from France, Kim focused on developing a film script for the next six months. He received the good news that two of his scripts had been selected in a contest. Unfamiliar with composition, not to mention spelling, he diligently worked on his scripts while urging himself to focus on matters of immediate concern and not on a distant future that seemed beyond his reach.
Accordingly Kim's film life began in a manner quite different from the channels other filmmakers took. Free of any institutional education in film, he never served as assistant director or developed film mania. But this is precisely the reason for the freedom he was able to embrace as a filmmaker. His films can be considered as autobiographical writing with a film camera. This is why Kim describes each and every one of his films a s a'sequence' within his entire body of work.
His debut feature, "Crocodile", represents his life and his experiences, signaling the beginning of a series of films that can be identified as the unique cinema of Kim Ki-Duk. The cruelty that has become his trademark was impregnated with the harsh reality that inundated his life of thirty some odd years.
His debut feature, "Crocodile", represents his life and his experiences, signaling the beginning of a series of films that can be identified as the unique cinema of Kim Ki-Duk. The cruelty that has become his trademark was impregnated with the harsh reality that inundated his life of thirty some odd years.
This enigmatic filmmaker is adding creations to his filmography with incredible energy and at an amazing pace!!
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