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Kim Sunwoo has been dead inside for a long time. Spending
his time as a hotel manager Sunwoo holds a cold secret, he
is the enforcer for a local crime boss Kang. Sunwoo moves
through his life feeling nothing, he neither feels love or
hate, killing without conscious; it seems that nothing can
intrude on Sunwoo's world, not even beauty. That is until
one day his boss, whose weakness is young women, asks him
to keep tabs on his latest girlfriend. When he finds her with
another man he's sure he should kill her but something about
her has uncovered feelings which have been long buried. When
he refuses to carry out Kang's death sentence he is set on
an irrevocable course which can only lead to his death or
Kang's...
2005
saw a significant resurgence in Korean cinema. Not only was
it the release year for A Bittersweet Life but it also
saw the release of the excellent Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
and Welcome to Dongmakgol. Only your personal choice
will determine which of these films is the better. There is
little doubt that A Bittersweet Life is violent, but
someone who has been so emotionally shutdown is likely to
become a victim of his own passion
The
movie is written and directed by Kim Jee-Woon. It opens with
a black and white shot of a willow tree; slowly colour fades
in, flooding the blossoms with vibrant life, we clearly hear
the voice of Sunwoo over the top of the scene asking:
"On
a clear spring day, a disciple looked at some branches blowing
in the wind, and asked: 'Master, is it the branches that
are moving, or the wind?' Without even looking to where
his pupil was pointing, the teacher smiled and said: 'That
which moves is neither the branches nor the wind, it is
your heart and mind.'".
This sequence encompasses the main theme of the film as Sunwoo,
through an unrequited love for the woman of his boss, has
his emotions slowly awakened. But emotions are a dangerous
thing. Great love may be awakened, but so too great hate -
hate enough to kill.
Lee
Byung Hun, who plays Sunwoo, does very well in the role, initially
portraying Sunwoo's inner coldness. We see in him the first
stirrings of emotion, before all hell breaks loose when his
boss finds out that he didn't kill the girl and her lover.
The film never really reconciles whether it's better to be
a cold blooded killer or a passionate one. Regardless, his
portrayal will have you on the edge of your seat for all of
the two hours that the film runs to. The rest of the cast,
to a man and woman, also hand in sterling performances.
One
of the things that you shouldn't miss about this film is that,
whilst it's very violent and well deserving of its eighteen
certificate, it's also very funny. Cinematography, by Kim
Ji Yong, is unrelentingly gorgeous, with an interesting use
of the earthen colours of green and brown, which is juxtaposed
with the city scenes which are all cold blacks, primary colours
and chrome. The score, by Jang Young Gyu and Dal Pa Ran, is
an oddly eclectic mix of Spanish and Italian music, which
ties it nicely into the great tradition of American gangster
films and spaghetti westerns.
Audio
options on the disc are very good; you can plump for stereo,
5.1 or DTS, but if you have the equipment this really should
be heard in DTS. Print is great with no obvious flaws. On
the extras front we have Cast & Crew Interview with
a respectable running time of twenty-one minutes. We also
get A Bittersweet Life in Cannes, which shows the cast
and crew all looking a little bemused, but also show just
how far Korean movie making has come in grabbing the western
psyche. It's a short piece that runs at seven minutes long.
Lastly, we have the Original Theatrical Trailer and
some Asian Extreme trailers. So what happened to the commentary
tracks that appeared on the original DVD?
Overall, this is a stylish, violent and unremitting movie
and another gem in the Tartan Asia Extreme range. Although
it's well worth an afternoon of anyone's time, it's a shame
the extras didn't do the film justice. I'll say it again,
as Hollywood turns out more wooden rubbish you really have
to look to Asian and the independent sector for cutting edge
story telling.
Charles
Packer
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