User Reviews

The hollow echo of forced transgression: A 2.0-star encounter with artificial brutality.2012 (2.0)I watched "Pieta" in the theater in 2012, and despite its high-profile reputation and Golden Lion win, it left me with a profound sense of "silent frustration." While Kim Ki-duk is known for his raw and sensational imagery, this particular film felt like it was trying too hard to be provocative, losing the "chewy" narrative substance in favor of mere shock value. The 95% preservation of my memory from that screening is colored by a feeling of disconnection; the characters’ motivations felt strained, and the grim atmosphere seemed more like a stage set than a lived-in reality. Unlike the visceral, masterpiece-level tension in "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," "Pieta" felt like a hollow imitation of depth, earning only a 2.0-star rating in my archive. It lacked the genuine emotional rhythm that makes a tragedy truly immersive, instead settling for a bleakness that felt performative rather than earned. For me, it was a disappointing theatrical experience where the weight of the themes didn't match the actual cinematic payoff, leaving me cold and uninspired by its heavy-handed symbolism.

Pietà turned out to be a relatively mild movie considering the extremes I'd heard about it. There's an interesting reading in its story about morals and their complexity, but the director never seeks to exploit that element in a subtle or fine way. I didn't dislike it, nor was I shocked. But I didn't find anything exceptional in it either. The highlights are the performances of both protagonists, managing to sustain a script that doesn't offer more interesting plot options.