Brew Views: Pieta

In the first 10 minutes of Pieta, the latest feature from internationally renowned director Kim Ki-duk, a man in a wheelchair hangs himself, another loudly humps a pillow on his bed, and a third is crippled by a large drill. A startling beginning to any film, but for a strange parable about the state of the world economy, it fits perfectly. The rest of Pieta follows a nihilistic loan-shark enforcer whose life is upended by a mysterious woman claiming to be his mother. What happens from there vacillates between terrifying, disturbing, charming and unusually moving. You might not be able to watch it at times, but what you do see will stick with you.

1. Showing at: Hollywood.
2. Best paired with: Burnside Stout.
3. Also showing: To Catch a Thief (Laurelhurst).

WWeek 2015