Director wins Cannes sidebar prize
Director Kim Ki-Duk poses at the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 13, after his film, “Arirang,” won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section. [AP]
Kim, a favorite of European film festivals but an outsider in the Korean film world, shared the best film prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 64th Cannes Film Festival with “Stopped On Track” by Germany’s Andreas Dresen.
The section is considered to be the second most important next to the competition for the Palme d’Or.
With his wrenching cinematic self-portrait, “Arirang,” Kim has become the first Korean filmmaker to win awards at all three of Europe’s biggest film festivals.
In 2004, he won the award for best direction for “Samaritan Girl” at the Berlin Film Festival and for “3-Iron” at the Venice Film Festival.
Accepting the award at Cannes, Kim sang a few bars from a melancholy folk song about the hills and valleys of life that also serves as the film’s title.
“Arirang,” which drew a lengthy standing ovation when it screened on May 13 during the 12-day event, is an emotionally raw film exercise aimed at curing a crippling bout of “director’s block.”
The picture features Kim living in self-imposed exile and grilling himself on camera about his own perceived failings as a director and a human being.
The film, which doesn’t have a release date for Korea yet, is expected to trigger a controversy here because Kim relays raw stories about several figures in the local film industry, using their real names.
He reveals on camera that actress Lee Na-young was almost killed while filming a scene in his 2008 drama “Dream,” in which the character hangs herself.
Kim rescued her but the near fatal accident sent him into a long depression.
One of the more controversial stories in the film is about a conflict Kim had with Jang Hun, an emerging Korean director and Kim’s former apprentice.
News of the conflict arose late last year, with news outlets reporting that Kim had become “devastated,” refusing to make any movies, since the “betrayal” of a young director.
According to the news reports, Kim had been working on a film project with Jang and another producer when the two essentially took the film to a major film distributor and made the film without him.
Though the news reports didn’t reveal the young director’s name, readers could infer that it was Jang, based on a variety of statements made in the report.
Kim later made a statement saying he was fine and had already reconciled with Jang.
In “Arirang,” however, Kim criticizes Jang for the “betrayal” of uttering his real name. He also places blame on several other people.
With this award, Korean films have now taken the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section two years in a row, following last year’s “Hahaha” directed by Hong Sang-soo, who also presented his latest film “The Day He Arrives” in the section at this year’s festival.
By Moon So-young, AFP [symoon@joongang.co.kr]
한글 관련 기사 [일간스포츠]
김기덕 감독 ‘아리랑’ 칸 주목할 만한 시선상 수상
김기덕 감독이 영화 '아리랑'으로 제64회 칸국제영화제에서 공식부문인 주목할 만한 시선상을 받았다.
김기덕 감독은 칸 영화제 폐막 하루 전날인 21일 밤(이하 현재시간) 드뷔시관에서 열린 주목할 만한 시선 부문(Un Certain Regard) 시상식에서 독일 안드레아스 드레센 감독의 '스톱드 온 트랙(Stopped on track)'과 함께 주목할 만한 시선상을 공동 수상했다. 이로써 김 감독은 이 부문에 2005년 '활'로 첫 진출했다가 6년 만인 올해 수상하는 쾌거를 이뤄냈다.
한국 감독으로는 지난해 영화 '하하하'의 홍상수 감독에 이어 두번째 수상이다. 주목할 만한 시선상 수상자를 2년 연속 한 국가에서 배출한 건 처음 있는 일이라는 점에서 놀라운 성과다.
이번 수상으로 김기덕 감독은 세계 3대 영화제에서 본상을 모두 수상하는 기염을 토했다. 김 감독은 앞서 2004년 '사마리아'로 베를린영화제 감독상, 2004년 '빈집'으로 베니스영화제 감독상을 수상했다.
주목할 만한 시선상은 1978년 제31회 질 자콥이 영화제 집행위원장이 되면서 신설한 상이다. 세계 영화에서 주목할 만한 새로운 경향을 포착한 영화들을 대상으로 했다. 올해 주목할 만한 시선부문에는 개·폐막 작을 포함해 19개국에서 모두 21편이 초청됐으며 한국영화는 김 감독의 '아리랑', 홍상수 감독의 '북촌방향', 나홍진 감독의 '황해'가 진출했다.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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