City of Violence (Korean)

I always end up with this fuzzy feeling when I am about to watch a new Korean film. Lately, I have been furiously searching for new material and there seems to be a lot available. So far I have been lucky enough to have liked all (yes all) the Korean films that I have seen. City of Violence came very close to being the worst yet, but manages to rise like the phoenix towards the end.

When one of his friends is murdered, city cop Tae-su (Doo-hong Jung), travels back his to home town to pay respect and decides to stay on and find out who killed his friend. The story of five friends that moves between the past and present, is on one end a gangster flick, but simultaneously is more about friendship and honor and to an extent about revenge.

As Tae-su goes about finding the truth, he is accompanied by Seok-hwan and they initially have a pretty awesome showdown where they fight gangs of street dancers, BMX riders, baseball players, school uniform dressed girls, and a few others.

The film does get extremely slow in-between with too much emotional baggage. On hindsight, it might have been important to break the violent streak of the film in the beginning and one that is about to come.

City of Violence really makes an impact in the last 30-40 minutes. Finally figuring out the reason and person behind the death of their friend, the last half hour is full of great fight sequences and some heavy drama. I especially loved the way the film ends (sorry can't say much as it would spoil the movie).

City of Violence has a very basic story that is portrayed rather well with some great performances and fight sequences. The last few minutes remain its strong point and bring about the entire film together with its bleak yet courageous end.

A 4 out of 5 Star Rating          

A Bittersweet Life (Korean)

Another Korean film. Another masterpiece. If I were to sum up A Bittersweet Life, I would say that it is a perfect amalgamation of different film genres. Just like its main character, Kim Sun-woo, the movie at first has the feel of a Gangster drama. Take a look deeper inside and you know that at the heart of it, it's a beautifully "unspoken" love story. Go further into the soul and you realize that it is a purely action filled revenge film.

The story isn't complex. It has its small twists, but focuses more on the characters. The film is more about human nature and how our ego, stubbornness, and sometimes the simplest of acts can be our own downfall. Taking care of his Boss' "young girlfriend", Heesoo (Shin Min-a), Kim Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) fails to inform his boss that she has been having an affair behind his back. This leads to his boss Kang (Kim Yeong-choel) taking out his anger on Kim by severely beating him and then slowly starts torturing him to death. This forms the premise of the film. What happens next is no surprise but still worth watching rather than me telling.

A Bittersweet Life is gruesome. There are scenes that make you cringe. There is blood, and lots of it. Still, amongst all the bloodshed there is certain harmony to everything. There are memorable scenes, one being the final talk between Kim and his boss Kang, in front of the bar called "la dolce vita". Like almost all Korean films I have seen, A Bittersweet Life is shot beautifully. Something I really liked was that even the scenes in the dark and in the rain are filmed in a way that you can see all the characters and know what is going on. I have seen time and again (especially in Indian cinema) where night scenes pretty much mean staring at a dark screen just listening to the dialogue.

So, does A Bittersweet Life strengthen my faith in Korean Cinema like its predecessors? Yes! It might not be as strong a film as The Chaser, but nevertheless it is a piece of cinema that deserves a 4/5 star rating from me.