2 reviews here the 1st one is spoiler free
the second isnt so dont look!
This one is Spoiler Free, edited out the spoilers and talking about the best bits of the film also sadly but best you go in blind I say
A Bittersweet Life 4 out of 5
Revenge is best served with guns and plenty of bullets, in this dark Korean payback drama. A film which takes some time to get into its swing, but once it finds itself the film doesn't really let up and just bombards you with some violent sequences which left me gasping at times. While it isn't exactly something really new, it is all well made and effective enough to leave a few scenes etched in my memory.
The stand out Korean films seem to be best when they involve cops and/or gangsters and this film is just about the gangster side this time round. Add a touch of nasty violence and your also onto a winning Korean film. Its basically a revenge film, a payback movie like a few others lately like Old Boy, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and hey even Hollywood got into the grove with Kill Bill. All have a few things in common. They look great, they are pretty nasty and feature out there scenes of evil sadistic violence performed by the avenger of justice.
The films plot is nice and simple really once you learn what is going on, and it does not deviate from its set path too much, which for me is a good thing. Its just a fairly easy going story and features plenty of great characters along the way, such as the sweet leading lady Hee-soo who gets under the heroes skin. Most the gangster cast are people who you don't really feel to much for sadly, and really I wanted to see all of them die in as much pain as he could dish out to them, so I think they got that part right and wrong in certain ways. If I had felt sympathy for a few of the gangsters, then maybe I would not like to have seen them die, but maybe that's the way the film is supposed to be. Basic and simple so we know who has to feel the force of the retribution.
We get to see many a bad guy blown away in some nice moments of death. Many People in the film are killed and some are taken out in some full on gore moments, people loose parts of there anatomy. Such as fingers, all the way up to pieces of head and brains, most are blown clean away on screen in some impressive make up and I suspect CGI enhancements, not that you can tell.
Its a violent film yes, but it didn't make me cringe too much like other far more full on films. Most of the time it happens very quickly and it doesn't seem to dwell on the death. We see plenty that's for sure, but the camera doesn't linger on the dead bodies or show us the terror and pain suffered by them. The worst scene for me is one we don't really see much of, its the multiple stabbing in the stomach, the sound and look of it hurts me, but really it left most of it to your imagination as we don't view it in gory detail. Just the aftermath of blood leakage.
Its a ride and I found myself not wanting the finale to end really, and I was sad to see it all come to a conclusion. Its nice looking and competently made with no real showy and flashy camera work. Its just solid, well made filmmaking and you don't get distracted by overuse of stylised camera work, so you can focus more on the cast, story and action. The music was well created and featured a combination of slow and quiet classical music (always nice to hear), and some crafty reworking of western Mexican stand off music which popped up a few times and brought a smile to my face.
In the end the movie worked and created a great sense of dread at times and I was rooting for our hero to kill more people around each corner, and that's what it all about feeling he got his issues off his chest by the time the credits roll, and I guess he did at that as no else was really left standing. Top stuff and I cannot wait to see what director Ji-woon Kim comes up with next.
SPOILER WARNINGS
SO DONT BLOODY LOOK IF YOU AINT SEEN IT!
Which will be most people sadly.
A Bittersweet Life 4 out of 5
Revenge is best served with guns and plenty of bullets, in this dark Korean payback drama. A film which takes some time to get into its swing, but once it finds itself the film doesn't really let up and just bombards you with some violent sequences which left me gasping at times. While it isn't exactly something really new, it is all well made and effective enough to leave a few scenes etched in my memory.
The stand out Korean films seem to be best when they involve cops and/or gangsters and this film is just about the gangster side this time round. Add a touch of nasty violence and your also onto a winning Korean film. Its basically a revenge film, a payback movie like a few others lately like Old Boy, Sympathy For Mr Vengeance and hey even Hollywood got into the grove with Kill Bill. All have a few things in common. They look great, they are pretty nasty and feature out there scenes of evil sadistic violence performed by the avenger of justice.
The films plot is nice and simple really once you learn what is going on, and it does not deviate from its set path too much, which for me is a good thing. Its just a fairly easy going story and features plenty of great characters along the way, such as the sweet leading lady Hee-soo who gets under the heroes skin. Most the gangster cast are people who you don't really feel to much for sadly, and really I wanted to see all of them die in as much pain as he could dish out to them, so I think they got that part right and wrong in certain ways. If I had felt sympathy for a few of the gangsters, then maybe I would not like to have seen them die, but maybe that's the way the film is supposed to be. Basic and simple so we know who has to feel the force of the retribution.
The guy who dishes out the can of hurt is Sun-woo played by the odd at times Byung-hun Lee. I say odd as he is a strange actor in the film and sometimes doesn't seem to know what he is. Is he a gangster? a bouncer? a killer? a guy who just kicks others peoples heads in? The role is the main character in the film and at times he was a little swaying in his actions and didn't feel like the hardcase he was trying to be to start off with. Saying that, he has some skills and really does get stuck in there and beats the crap out of many a bad guy (but hey they are all bad guys really).
He is a pro at what he does and whatever his real role in life is, its never fully explained. We get glimpses of what he did in his past and it doesn't sound nice that's for sure, in fact he is an evil guy, who really we as an audience should not like and not feel for. Yet the film makes him out to be quite the hero and maybe that's a little misjudged, but it works and we feel for him and his struggle to survive and get his big bloody payback on the scum who tried to kill him. I guess we never get deep enough into his shady past to really hate the guy for his sins, and in this film we mainly see his absolute life go down the pan, but we see a few good sides to him and maybe that's why you end up cheering for him, and not the other scumbag Gangsters and cons.
There is no doubt that Sun-woo is good at what he does, and we see him at his best many time in the film. His first dishing out the pain sequence left me a little cold, as it was over too quick, badly edited and more than a little confusing. It wasn't until he pulled over some yobs in his car that we saw a more pleasurable side to his physical powers, and he goes on to show them in spades full as the film progresses.
The Burial scene is where the film started to get really interesting and the films tone changed quite considerably at the point of his capture. It became nasty and seeing him puke his guts up in fear isn't what you expect a hardman to do in that situation, so not sure if that is a good thing or not. Anyway the tone of terror and the unknown that started to creep into the film just got bolder and bigger as these scenes opened up before me, and by the time the reveal of the big twist comes onto us your totally hooked.
Then we get to the films standout moment, the escape sequence. For me it was as exciting as I had hoped for, and the action and general scull cracking and fiery stick beating was a joy to watch come to life. As it just amped up the numbers of bad guys and sent our hero into a rage to get out of there, and also kick a few of these muppets heads in while he had the chance. The flame stick bashing was well used, and it didn't get boring watching a flaming piece of wood get whacked into an oncoming bad guys face for the 10th time in a row, its not something you see in films much and really the little guy just got stuck in and tried as hard as he could to stay alive. By the time he got into the car my heart was pounding. This scene ranks alongside scenes like the Corridor scene in OldBoy, and Kill Bills mighty crazy 88 battle. All feature one person against multiple foes and they may take a beating, but boy they take as many of them down as they can by any means necessary.
After that scene the film gets more stylish in the action stakes and we get less mud and more sheen, but loads more blood. The Ice Rink meeting was quick and very brutal to watch (and hear). That leads us up to the big finale with plenty of bullets ripping into peoples body parts. When the hero wears a suit he looks a lot cooler, and when you put a gun in his hand he excels and seems very proficient in killing people.
We get to see many a bad guy blown away in some nice moments of death, with the best going to the Uzi spraying of one unfortunate lad who takes an uncountable amount of bullet hits to almost all his shuddering, bloody body. Many People in the film are killed and some are taken out in some full on gore moments, people loose parts of there anatomy. Such as fingers, all the way up to pieces of head and brains, most are blown clean away on screen in some impressive make up and I suspect CGI enhancements, not that you can tell.
Its a violent film yes, but it didn't make me cringe too much like other far more full on films. Most of the time it happens very quickly and it doesn't seem to dwell on the death. We see plenty that's for sure, but the camera doesn't linger on the dead bodies or show us the terror and pain suffered by them. The worst scene for me is one we don't really see much of, its the multiple stabbing in the stomach, the sound and look of it hurts me, but really it left most of it to your imagination as we don't view it in gory detail. Just the aftermath of blood leakage.
Its a ride and I found myself not wanting the finale to end really, and I was sad to see it all come to a conclusion. The last moments really added to the film that came before it. Seeing Sun-woo crack a little smile just caped off the film and kind of added a little feeling to him that's was missing before that simple moment. Its nice looking and competently made with no real showy and flashy camera work. Its just solid, well made filmmaking and you don't get distracted by overuse of stylised camera work, so you can focus more on the cast, story and action. The music was well created and featured a combination of slow and quiet classical music (always nice to hear), and some crafty reworking of western Mexican stand off music which popped up a few times and brought a smile to my face.
In the end the movie worked and created a great sense of dread at times and I was rooting for our hero to kill more people around each corner, and that's what it all about feeling he got his issues off his chest by the time the credits roll, and I guess he did at that as no else was really left standing. Top stuff and I cannot wait to see what director Ji-woon Kim comes up with next.
Im doing it because i can and because i want to see it twice on the bigscreen. Contribute to the thread or dont post.
