A young, solitary loan shark collects paybacks from customers with extreme brutality. While he maims and emotionally cripples many of his customers, their suffering leaves him cold. One day, a mysterious woman appears in front of him claiming to be his long-lost mother. Although he violently rejects her at first, he gradually accepts her into his life and allows her to change his ways. But when some of the woman's secrets are starting to become unravelled, he finds his past haunting him in the most devious of ways. Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Film Festival.

The film screening will be followed by a short discussion.

This film is part of the monthly film series Asia and the Pacific Screens, sponsored by the Australian Centre on China in the World.

Director Kim Ki-duk 김기덕
2012, 104 mins 
Korean with English subtitles