Kim Ki-duk's bleak morality tale scoops Golden Lion in Venice

"Pieta" director Kim Ki-duk (second to left) and actress Cho Min-soo (second to right) receive the Golden Lion award at the 69th Venice International Film Festival held in Venice, Italy on September 8, 2012. [NEW]

Director Kim Ki-duk's cruel morality tale has been named the best film at the Venice film awards.

Kim's 18th feature-length film "Pieta" won the Golden Lion award for the best picture at the 69th Venice International Film Festival awards ceremony held in Venice, Italy on Saterday in local time, the official website showed.

The mother-and-son drama with a touch of sadism from the renowned Korean director was judged the best film among 18 competitors by a group of juries led by filmmaker Michael Mann.

As a way to show his gratitude for making his film the first Korean movie to gain a top trophy from the world's three biggest film festivals, Venice, Cannes and Berlin, Kim belted out the Korean folk song "Arirang" after his name was called on the stage.

Dressed in a modernized Korean traditional outfit, Hanbok, Kim said at a press conference held in Seoul late last month that the title of "Pieta" was inspired by Michelangelo's "Pieta" statue in the Vatican.

"Pieta" is Kim's fierce denunciation of excessive capitalism that centers around a cold-hearted loan shark [played by actor Lee Jung-jin] who prowls the alleys and small workshops near Seoul's Cheonggye Stream.

With its story set at which used to be the center stage of South Korea's miracle of Han River between the 1960s and 90s, the director goes deeply into what capitalism is presenting to one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

However, as the Venice ceremony has come to a close, reports that argue the jury had initially picked up a different winner are clouding the excitement.

According to the Hollywood Reporter's report on Saturday, the jury had planned to award the Golden Lion to Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology-inspired "The Master" but due to its rules that no one film can grab more than two awards, it had to settle on "Pieta."

Anderson and the pic's actor Joaquin Phoenix were each named the best director and best actor during the evening.

Kim's gut-wrenching condemnation of money-grabbing society, couched in a morality tale, opened in local theaters on September 6.

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