A Bittersweet Life (달콤한인생, Dalkomhan insaeng) is a 2005 South Korean film by Kim Ji-woon. Highly cultural and ruthlessly violent, it illustrates the ethical codes in the Korean mob and how they clash with personal morality.
A Bittersweet Life is a super stylistic, ultra-violent action film that has more bang to it than all the Hollywood films that have been released so far this year. Director Kim Ji-woon superbly twists and tweaks the gangster genre and to create something pleasantly surprising. The film has been critically labelled as “action noir” in Korea and there are plenty of reasons why. Much of the action occurs beautifully in the dark shadows of Seoul. The danger is always waiting in the contrast between light and shadow created by the city itself. This is a world where no one can be truly trusted.
Lee Byung-hun brings sheer excitement in his performance as Sun Woo. He is an angel dressed in vengeance. At the beginning of the film, he is stone cold and heartless. But once his fury is unleashed he loses it, transforming into a guy who has no problem taking people out while still maintains his vulnerability. He wants to know the motivation of his torment. Lee Byung-hun conveys a dangerous mix of charm and intelligence.
Kim Ji-woon’s creativity in fight scenes is a mix of realism and pur cinema. When someone gets shot, they don’t get hit in a place that kills them instantly. It takes several shots to actually hit in critical point. The guns are uncontrollable. The characters are unpredictable. The pain is visually felt. The violence is cruelly innovative. The stylistically photographed images become another characters of the film. It is fascinating that this mixture of grittiness and elegance creates such a poetry images. Everything is carefully designed with details. From Le Dolce Vita restaurant to the girl’s home, the care spent on small details of space and time.
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