Insert interesting post here. Damn good–often nerve-wracking, strangely silly at times, blackly sarcastic, then horrifying, then a gut-punch emotional wallop. This is a serial killer flick, of sorts, out of South Korea — a corrupt ex-cop (a sweaty,sleazy, superb Kim Yun-seok) now a pimp, finds that some of his “girls” are going missing. He’s pissed — they’re running away, or some asshole’s selling them, after all the money he paid himself. . . and the film opens with him sending another escort out, only to realize that it’s to the same john who was the last customer for the long-gone women. . . And the film bites down hard on your nerves, razor-blade editing slicing us back and forth from potential victim and killer to angry seeking pimp, but it is (really) very familiar, and then: boom. It shifts. Suddenly the film hangs an abrupt left and it’s going in directions you hadn’t expected, and it begins to slowly ratchet up the tension again.
The performances are strong, the editing superb, director Na Hong-jin shoots with plenty of unobtrusive style… it’s like a great Sam Fuller film, pulpy and histrionic yet smart and then smart-ass and then sincerely melodramatic.
I got a region-2 disc, and I don’t think it’s out here yet–but keep an eye on Netflix. Pretty damn good.
damn you! How are you playing a “region 2” disc? see my post above!
Michael, see my comment on your post.
Please see my comment on that post, too.
Please see my ass…then kiss it!
This apparently just came out for our region. Bump!
Saw director Na Hong-Jin’s second film, The Yellow Sea–not quite as strong, but damn compelling. And the Fuller comparison again seems apt: this is great, sincere pulp filmmaking with a sociopolitical edge. (But with maybe a few more knife, axe, and pointy stick fights than Fuller ever had.). Joseonjok Gu-Nam (Ha Jong-woo) drives his cab and drinks his nights away, furious that his wife never followed him to China and far in debt for visa charges to a pair of thugs. Local criminal/dog breeder Myun (Kim Yun-seok) hires him to return to Korea and assassinate someone. “Bring me the thumb” and maybe take care of that missing wife…. The plot twists around a few times, nicely knotting expectations. And the inevitable fights and chases are intense, the cinematography–particularly the dark grimy streets of latenight, bad-neighborhood Seoul–is lush. Its hyperbolic coincidences and battles could get a knock, but see above re Fuller: it seems purposefully heightened.
Good stuff.