Starring Lee Jung-jin, Cho Min-soo
Directed by Kim Ki-duk
When it comes to the big screen, it seems that revenge is a dish best served South Korean. Between Park Chan-wooks Vengeance Trilogy, Bong Joon-hos Mother, and Kim Jee-woons I Saw the Devil, twisted tales of bloody reprisals have become a major cultural export for the Asian nation. And while Kim Ki-duks Pieta never matches the technical and narrative bravura of Parks Oldboy, it compensates with a depraved edge that allows it to hold its own.
At the diseased heart of Kims film is Kang-do (Lee Jung-jin), a decidedly contemptible anti-hero. A loan collector in Seouls more squalid corridors, he shows no aversion to maiming those who cant pay their debts. His callousness is only rivalled by the creative flair he lends his torture tactics. One fateful day, he finds middle-aged Mi-seon (Cho Min-soo) following him like a shadow. When he confronts her, she claims to be his long-lost mother. After she expresses a desire to be part of his life, Kang-do devises sickening tests through which she might prove her devotion.
Those viewers who can stomach this gruelling gauntlet are rewarded as Pietas plot becomes reliant on more than just appendages running afoul of heavy machinery. That said, Kims storytelling mechanics are hardly subtle. Rather than drawing you in, this sordid storyline demands that you keep your distance and admire its filmmaker as he makes like a particularly sadistic child with his playthings.
Ultimately, its an ideal vantage point to take in a chilling climax that leaves you envying the characters who managed to escape these merciless proceedings with only flesh wounds to show for it.
