Famous Director Kim Ki Duk Accused of Violence and Coercion Towards Actress on Set of Film Moebius

There is a legal case in South Korea that involves the film community and pulls the curtains back on the production dark side of movie making. Famed auteur film director Kim Ki Duk has been sued by unnamed 41 year old actress A for violence and coercion stemming from his 2013 dark and perverse movie Moebius which involves family dysfunction, castration, incest, and self-mutilation. The lawsuit by A alleges that Director Kim was violent towards her on the set and then attempted to coerce her into filming a violent rape scene that was not in the script and was added.

She refused to film and was subsequently replaced by actress Kim Eun Woo who played the female lead role in the released movie. The allegations that an likely well-known veteran actress was slapped around by a demanding movie director and then pressured to filming a scene she didn’t agree to beforehand doesn’t sound salacious as much as depressing and highly likely to have happened. Kim Ki Duk’s defense was that he was trying to get A into the role and may have hit her while directing her, and that the filming of a rape scene not previously agreed to was a misunderstanding.

I hope K-netizens don’t try to out actress A as filing this lawsuit must have taken great courage on her part to risk being ostracized from the industry for going up against a famous director. If Kim Ki Duk did it I hope he pays the price and even more, I hope his fellow directors take not and behave professionally when doing their jobs.


Comments

Famous Director Kim Ki Duk Accused of Violence and Coercion Towards Actress on Set of Film Moebius — 13 Comments

  1. I never thought Kim Ki Duk as a big influence in the Korean industry at least not as much as Bong Joon Ho or Park Chan Wook. He’s more into independent films, so I don’t see a problem if she had sued him at that time. Plus his films was always dark and disturbing, she should have known that he was known for that. And there’s always a possibility that a director could change the script and add several things. But I do believe in the actress.

    • tbh I don’t think the influence matters, women stay silent for many reasons. As an e.g. if a script is changed and changes are in your contract what do you do if a line is crossed?

      I hope this lady gets justice and as Koala says hope she is not outed. Too many men in positions of power get away with abuse.

      PS: Not everyone who makes dark films is a sadist or abuser. Some of KDK films depict the nature of violence and show it negatively. Pity that his RL seems a sordid tale of professional abuse.

  2. If this is true…this guy has no business producing any pieces of art…hè belongs to jail.It is more likely the woman who filed the suit is not the first one.She is just the first to be courageous enpugh to speak out.

  3. Sometimes I wonder why most disturbing movies (lots of unneccesary sex scenes, violent etc) considered artsy or high quality movie..
    I dont like KKD movie, I really think he glamourize mental problem.

    • Exactly, he seems like a psychopath playing out his fantasies on film. Too much sex, violence and gore is not art. Its perverse. Its like these guys (and its always guys) want to make a snuff film without getting in trouble. So they hire actors to play these disgraceful roles and then call it ‘art’.

  4. Please, Ockoala, post also the testimony of the producer of the film, who has vivid memories about how angry he was after the actress decided that she doesn’t like the scenario and wanted a change.
    I am not defending Kim Ki Duk for the violence. He must pay.
    But the part about the sex scene is a lie and the actress already changed her version. Yes, she knew about the scene, but she wass expecting less “realism” in the filming, something like artificial male attributes for example.
    Sorry, but this was the 20th film of KKD! Why someone is surprised by his way of filming in 2013???
    Also in the articles they say she was afraid about her career.Sadly, her career ended even without this scandal, so she decided to speak.
    After 4 years? She wasn’t angry or hurt in 2015 or 2016?

    Why now? Why exactly when the director was elected in the committee for the Academy awards? And when he just filmed a movie which has a big potential ro be also a commercial success not only an artsy piece?

    I hope the thinks will clear up soon and here we will read the outcome.

  5. The actress was told she would be grabbing fake male genitalia but was forced to grab real ones as well aside from slapping her. the director instead of denying justifies himself by saying he was perusing realism.

  6. He was abusive, crude and rude…. and had no right to be. Who in the hell do these macho wannabes, think they are anyway. Take a good look at him…ewwww

  7. This is truly sad news and I hope that KKD (a directors whose films I really like) gets what he deserves for treating someone like that. And he defends himself by saying that he wanted to be more autentic? If you are not enough of a director to get a performance out of an actress without slapping her or forcing her to grab male genitalia then what you should do is to let her go and find another actress. Abuse like this is inexcusable.

    A director can make dark and twisty films and this shouldn’t allow him to treat any actor/actress like that. If he doesn’t like her performance he can talk to her about it, this is what being human is, we can communicate with words. This is atrocious and I’m very sad to hear this about a director whose films I truly like.

    I have watched the film and thought it a very good film but now I know how much pain it caused for an actress, I don’t think I’ll be able to watch it again. Rape scenes are filmed throughout the cinema history and some of them were difficult to watch (Irreversable, a French film, has the worst rape scene I have ever watched and it looks very realistic but I’m sure that the female actress never had to be humiliated in real life to get a better performance) A good director knows how to get a good performance out of her/his actors without abusing them. He should be severely punished. Artistic temperament is well and good but it should not be an excuse for abuse of any kind.

    Some of the comments here truly upset me. A woman is being treated like dirt and some people are trying to make her guilty for not complaining years earlier. Seriously!Get a grip people, he is not even denying it.

    • Ditto. Couldn’t have said it better. It tells how lacking a director is if he has to degrade his co-workers and actors to achieve so called perfect results.

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