Kim Ki-duk Wins ‘Moebius’ Ratings Battle
HONG KONG — South Korean auteur Kim Ki-duk has won his battle to have his new film “Moebius” released in Korean theaters, but only after a third appeal to the country’s censors and three minutes of deletions.
The film tells the brutal tale of a family in turmoil. Kim’s telling of it involves incest, graphic sex and violence, and a man who cuts off his own genitals. It will have its public premiere in Venice next month, and is now be set for Korean release later in September.
“We were able to receive the ‘teenagers restricted’ rating after cutting three minutes of a scene that is crucial to delivering the central message of ‘Moebius’,” Kim said in a press statement. “The KMRB’s rating is unfortunate, but I feel glad that Korean audiences will be able to see the film in September as the cast and crew members urgently wished.”
The film was previously awarded a “restricted” rating, which is tantamount to a ban as Korea currently has no theaters allowed to show restricted films.
His first two appeals against the KMRB rating failed and last month he held a screening for executives and critics asking whether he should persist with his struggle.
Kim is understood to have finally trimmed 33 scenes and cut a total of 3 minutes from his original running time.
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