3-Iron

Colour, 35 mm
Korea, Japan, 2004, 89 min
Section: Horizons
Oficiální stránky: www.cineclickasia.com

Synopsis

In 2002 the KV IFF dedicated a retrospective to leading Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk and screened two of his films last year as well. The director’s contribution this year (given the Special Director’s Award and more at the 2004 Venice IFF) is reminiscent of his last feature Samaritan Girl. This time around the heroes of this sophisticated narrative are two young people whose chance meeting develops into an unusual love affair. A young man named Tae-suk, whose only possession is a powerful motorcycle, spends his time riding around the city looking for empty apartments. After finding one, he hangs out for a while, fixing himself something to eat and washing laundry or making small repairs in return. He always tries to leave before the owners get back but he isn’t always successful. In one ostensibly empty mansion he meets the abused wife of a rich man. She joins him.... Kim Ki-duk shot the movie in a very short time and has, in his own unusual way, created a meditation on violence, injustice, and cruelty in which roles are reversed.

About the director

Kim Ki-duk (b. 1960, Kyongsang Province) as a young man worked in a factory, he was a sailor, and spent five years in the army. He also sold his paintings for two years in Paris. He then began writing screenplays and made a name for himself as a controversial director of films that combined deep melancholy with brutality and erotic extremes. He has become South Korea’s leading director, and his films were profiled at the 37th Karlovy Vary IFF (2002). His work often features outcasts or those hounded by obsessive feelings of guilt. He shouldn’t be mistaken with the director of the same name who worked in the 60s and 70s. Filmography: Crocodile (1996), the drama Wild Animals (1997), The Birdcage Inn (1998), The Isle (2000), the political drama Address Unknown (2001), Bad Guy (2001), Coast Guard (2002), Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (2003), Samaritan Girl (2004), 3-Iron (2004).