Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

forlornnesssickness Many brutal deeds in the film are committed by its unlikable hero Kang- do(Lee Jeong-jin). Kang-do('Kang-do' means 'robber' in Korean, by the way) works as a debt collector for some loan shark, and he is someone you don't want to mess with especially if you happen to borrow the money from his boss. Even if his poor debtors really have no money to pay back, he gets the money back by any ruthless means necessary. These unfortunate debtors usually work at the metal shops located on the narrow alleys of Seoul, so they are forced to get their hands or feet injured by their machines for paying him back through the insurance money they will acquire. During one comic but cringe-inducing moment, one debtor nervously asks him to cut both of his hands instead of only one hand because he needs more money to pay his debts and support his baby to be born.Kang-do's life is as barren as his debtors'. While his home looks a little more comfortable, he has lived alone in his apartment. He cooks for himself, and he usually brings live animals to his home for his dinner. Seriously, I do not understand why he prefers to buy a live chicken and then butcher it instead of just purchasing a dead one at a supermarket, but I guess this savage behavior solely exists for representing his beastly nature.On one day, his life is disrupted by the sudden appearance of one mysterious woman(Cho Min-soo), who claims to be his mother and apologizes to him for abandoning him not so long after he was born. Resentful toward his mother he does not remember, he does not believe any of her words and brusquely rejects her, but she keeps coming to him. She slowly insinuates herself into his daily life while behaving like a mother who tries to compensate for her unforgivable fault in the past. Though he harshly treats her, she sticks to him while doing what mothers usually do for their dear sons. She cooks for him, and she says genially to this detestable man who has probably never experienced love or kindness for a long time.Revealing or saying little about themselves, the characters of Kim Ki- duk's films are usually fascinating to observe for how they behave rather than who they are. The characters of "Pieta" are no exception; we do not know a lot about them, but what happens between them is a darkly compelling drama. There is quite a disturbing scene where Kang-do cruelly attempts to violate her with his own twisted logic, and you may wonder how much she can tolerate him, if she is indeed who she seems to be. Induced by her love without condition, Kang-do slowly reveals a vulnerable child with lots of hurts inside him; he eventually finds himself depending on her care, and they momentarily have a nice time together as a mother and her son.Is she really his mother? I don't dare to tell anything about that matter for not spoiling your entertainment, but let's say that I did not lose my interest while the movie changed its direction in the middle of the story for the reason you may easily guess in advance. Its second half is less engaging and less focused because of that, but the director/writer Kim Ki-duk provides a very realistic background for his relatively unrealistic story, and the gray, destitute underbelly of Seoul is vividly conveyed to us through its shabby metal shops and dirty alleys. His films have been well-known for their unflinching attitude to brutal violence, but "Pieta" thankfully takes a restrained approach to its equally savage violence while retaining its emotional impact intact. When I watched gleefully over-the-top violence in "The Expendables"(2012) right before watching this movie, I could have some chuckles, but I discovered that there was nothing laughable about the frighteningly realistic violence in "Pieta" even when it does not present it on the screen.The tension in the drama largely depends on the simple but fearless performance by Cho Min-soo, who deftly maintains the elusive side of her character even at the most emotionally anguished moment. You can feel the genuine emotions from her face, but you can never be sure about where they come from. Although Lee Jeong-jin feels strained and miscast compared to his co-actress, at least he supports her well during several tough scenes between them. Their characters may look silly when they behave like a mother and her little son, but we come to accept the emotional bond forming between them.Although he recently went through a rough time, Kim Ki-duk remains as one of the most interesting South Korean directors along with Park Chan- wook, Bong Joon-ho, and Hong Sang-soo. I have watched most of his works, and I admired many of them while recognizing their disturbing side. The unforgettable scene involved with fish hooks in "The Isle"(2000) still makes me flinch whenever I recall it, and "Bad Guy"(2002) was another disturbing relationship between a violent man and a woman who is suffered and degraded by him while stuck with him. After his best work "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring"(2003), his subsequent films became a little more gentle, but they are still the movies tough to watch. I did not like his previous work "Arirang"(2011), a self- portrayal documentary which can be called his version of "I'm Still Here"(2010), because I found it both painful and embarrassing to watch him on his supposedly bad days, but I hoped everything would be soon all right for him.

Yogesh Prabhu It's a dark and brutal morality tale of guilt and redemption, the movie "PIETA" tells a story of a debt collector Kang-do(Lee Jeong-jin) works as a debt collector for some loan shark, and he is someone you don't want to mess with especially if you happen to borrow the money from his boss. Even if his poor debtors really have no money to pay back, he gets the money back by any ruthless means necessary. These unfortunate debtors usually work at the metal shops located on the narrow alleys of Seoul, so they are forced to get their hands or feet injured by their machines for paying him back through the insurance money they will acquire. During one comic but cringe-inducing moment, one debtor nervously asks him to cut both of his hands instead of only one hand because he needs more money to pay his debts and support his baby to be born.Kang-do's life is as barren as his debtors'. While his home looks a little more comfortable, he has lived alone in his apartment. He cooks for himself, and he usually brings live animals to his home for his dinner. To represent his beastly nature, he prefers to buy a live chicken and then butcher it instead of just purchasing a dead one. On one day, his life is disrupted by the sudden appearance of one mysterious woman(Cho Min-soo), who claims to be his mother and apologizes to him for abandoning him not so long after he was born. Resentful toward his mother he does not remember, he does not believe any of her words and brusquely rejects her, but she keeps coming to him. She slowly insinuates herself into his daily life while behaving like a mother who tries to compensate for her unforgivable fault in the past. Though he harshly treats her, she sticks to him while doing what mothers usually do for their dear sons. She cooks for him, and she says genially to this detestable man who has probably never experienced love or kindness for a long time.There is quite a disturbing scene where Kang-do cruelly attempts to violate her with his own twisted logic, and you may wonder how much she can tolerate him, if she is indeed who she seems to be. Induced by her love without condition, Kang-do slowly reveals a vulnerable child with lots of hurts inside him; he eventually finds himself depending on her care, and they momentarily have a nice time together as a mother and her son.The tension in the drama largely depends on the simple but fearless performance by Cho Min-soo, who deftly maintains the elusive side of her character even at the most emotionally anguished moment. Their characters may look silly when they behave like a mother and her little son, but we come to accept the emotional bond forming between them.And later scenes become very intense and heart touching. Overall I do not think it is one of his best films because of its several flaws, but I must say it is nice to see that this talented director is still capable of making a movie with conviction, power, and several interesting things to talk about.

glpsantos Have you seen more Kim Ki duk's films? With this one, it's the 9th film that i have seen. Why see so many films from same director, because he became one of my all time favorite. So why the hell did he make this movie like this? Let's admit, it's definitely a Kim Ki duk story, no doubt, but everything else seems like an amateur work. The DOP is extremely weak. All of he's films were like a perfect interaction of images, and this one is bad in shots and in the edition of the shots - the so called perfection that he seeks in the other movies, all the symbolism, all the perfect actors - where is all this? For me the scene where the man want to cut his hand to give money to his son, could me the ultimate beauty scene, but then the actor seemed to take this things so light, like "it's only my hand", and after that he asks for the second one. At that time it turned ridiculous instead of beautiful. And this was the first time that i saw a bad scene in one of Kim Ki duk's film. Don't get me wrong, but Kim Ki duk could win in Venice with any movie, but not this one.

nick fredrikson Drama , Revenge , Love , Hate , Mercilessness ,Despair , Loneliness , Change ,Hope ,Tragedy ,Sorrow , Remorse ... etc etc etc . Kim Ki-Duk's new masterpiece is epic. Not visually but substantially. Its covering of so many aspect of the human nature I haven't seen before in film . The twisted and tragic plot reminded me of a saga by the ancient Greek and took me on a roller-coaster of emotions. I hadn't such mixed feelings towards the characters for a long time. First hate , then compassion , then pity then this then that. Ki-Duk truly grew as an artist , moreover ,I dare to mention the word ,genius . This film is his most ,, humane '' work ( unjustifiably being accused of ,,mainstreamness''): No graphic cruelty (,,Seom ''), no irrational concepts like expression of love=violence ( ,, Bad Guy '') ,no bizarre scenes ( ,, Hwal ''). Thus I'm not wondering that it won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Thank you Kim-Ki-Duk for the most unique film-experience I ever had!