Drafthouse Films
presents
Pietà
Directed by KIM Ki-Duk
South Korea, 2012, 104 minutes
KIM Ki-Duk's award winning Pietà becomes available on demand and at iTunes today, April 12th. It will open in New York and Los Angeles area theaters on May 17th with a national release to follow.
KIM (Bad Guy; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring; 3-Iron) is a multi-award-winning director - the ‘Un Certain Regard’ Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, the ‘Leone D’Argento’ Award for Best Direction at the 2004 Venice Film Festival and the ‘Silver Bear’ Award for Best Direction at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival. His intense, violent and beautiful imagery has earned praise from both critics and audiences as one of South Korea’s most celebrated and provocative voices. Leslie Felperin for Variety wrote that Pietà’s “gritty, urban setting and thoughtful engagement with themes of revenge, sacrifice and redemption harks back to earlier films that brokered Kim's reputation as one of Korea's most innovative and talented helmers.” For Indiewire, Pietà is a “curiously engaging and wickedly twisted tale of crime and punishment on multiple levels...recalls the like-minded outlook of No Country For Old Men.”
Pietà is an intense and haunting story about a loan shark living an isolated and lonely existence. He uses brutality to threaten and collect paybacks from desperate borrowers for his moneylender boss. He proficiently and mercilessly collects the debts without regard to the pain he causes his countless victims. One day, a mysterious woman appears in front of him claiming to be his long-lost mother. After coldly rejecting her at first, he gradually accepts her in his life and decides to quit his cruel job and seek a decent, redemptive life. However, he soon discovers a dark secret stemming from his past and realizes it may be too late to escape the horrific consequences already set in motion from his previous life.
Pietà won the Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.
Official Website: http://drafthousefilms.com/film/pieta
Trailer at iTunes
