Movie “Moebius” banned from Korea due to incestuous sex scene
Kim Ki-duk, the director of "Moebius."
By Ko Dong-hwan
Movie director Kim Ki-duk’s latest movie has been banned from Korean theaters.
“Moebius,” Kim’s first movie since his winning of the Golden Lion Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, was awarded “restricted rating” by the Korean Media Rating Board on July 15 because of an incestuous sex scene. The news was announced by the board on its homepage on July 16.
The board previously rated the movie the restricted rating at first evaluation because of the sensitive sex scene, saying it “contains unethical and anti-social codes.”
Director Kim, upon accepting the board’s opinion, modified the film by removing one minute and 14 seconds and re-submitted it to the board.
The board, however, gave a verdict that the edited version “still hinted incestuous sexual behavior in a realistic fashion” and awarded the same rating.
The rating will permit the movie to show only in “special theaters,” but because there are no such theaters in Korea, the movie has no place in the country for audiences to watch.
Moebius depicts the life of a son from a morally devastated family due to his father’s delinquency.
The movie was received well in the film market during the Cannes Film Festival 2012, and a film website “Twitch Film” raised ante for its nomination for the coming Venice International Film Festival 2013 in August.