When Eduardo Casanova’s remarkable debut film Pieles (2017) was first released, the light pink color filling his world was regarded as skin color. His second film, La Pietá, is also full of such light pink color, and is a story about a mother and son, Libertad and Mateo, who lock themselves in a house. The extremely controlled relationship between the two is at risk, when Mateo is diagnosed with cancer, but their small universe is not simply abandoned. The film explores fundamental issues including the relationship between power, control, obedience and freedom, which are as solid as the reality of North Korean refugees, juxtaposed with the mother-and-son story in extreme situations and relationships. The director’s cinematic adventure, which exposes his specific concerns and visions on the screen, refuses all conventional categories, including traditional narration, generic imagination and the view of realism, and shows originality and energy that can’t be found in any other contemporary auteurs. (Jin PARK)