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Film: A Tale Of Two Sisters
Release date: 22nd November 2004
Certificate: 15
Running time: 115 mins
Director: Kim Ji-woon
Starring: Kim Kap-su, Yum Jung-ah, Lim Su-jeong, Moon Geun-young, Lee Seung-bi
Genre: Drama/Horror/Mystery/Thriller
Studio: Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: South Korea
Having been adapted from a Korean folk story entitled Janghwa Hongreyon jeon, A Tale Of Two Sisters amalgamates the subtle, sinister atmosphere of an urban myth with a stylized, visual beauty integrated by director Kim Ji-woon.
The film begins with a young girl being questioned by a psychiatrist in an eerily indistinct scene set inside a bleak, white hospital. What follows, rather unsurprisingly, is a story centred upon two sisters, Su-Mi and her timid younger sibling Su-Yeon. The girls are getting ready to move into a beautiful, yet utterly secluded house, in the serene countryside, with their father, Mu-Hyun, and a seemingly iniquitous stepmother, Eun-Joo. The reason for this change of locale is hinted at being a recovery from some unspecified disturbance.
The sisters struggle to settle in their new surroundings, due to their relationship with their belligerent stepmother. Despite the tension between the three females being overt, with Su-Mi openly showing her hostility toward Eun-Joo, Mu-Hyun seems unreservedly desensitized to the issue, and reacts only by opting for calm within the family. Disturbing occurrences soon occur within the house, with a tormented Su-Mi struggling with the visions of peculiar nightmares whilst trying to calm her younger sisters’ deteriorating mental state, due to a combination of an ostensibly terrifying wooden closet and the wicked actions of Eun-Joo…
Like many films released during the boom years of East-Asian horror cinema, A Tale Of Two Sisters is somewhat attentive towards the idea of disunity and dysfunction within the family unit. Su-Mi’s fractured and hostile relationship towards her stepmother, as well as Mu-Hyun’s seeming lack of interest and concern, are indicative of a broken family. This apprehension invoked by the cracked relationships between the characters is an excellent aspect of the film, especially when coupled with the eerie, hazy tension within the house.
One the film’s most important and impressive facets is the sheer ambiguity which looms over the story. From the opening scene within the hospital to the rationale behind the resentment between Su-Mi and Eun-Joo, as well as the underlying mental disturbances of the characters, director Kim Ji-woon refuses to spoon feed the audience, and keeps us firmly in the dark and guessing throughout the film. The ambiguous nature of the story is aptly juxtaposed with the mental states of the characters, and in particular, Su-Mi.
The ambiguity throughout the film may slightly deter some viewers, as the story is sometimes difficult to follow due to a certain lack of exposition. However, this is a key component of the film, and is sine qua non in adding a certain amount of vagueness and tension to the story, which, at times, is built up to frightening proportions. This is often helped by the pacing of the film, which can be very slow. When the girls first move into their new home at the start of the film, the pacing of the film is almost dream-like, setting up a wonderfully tense atmosphere highly reminiscent of a David Lynch film. Although it speeds up at the film’s denouement, involving several twists and turns, the best instances within the story are when the pacing is slow, and scenes are often cut together in an almost meticulous fashion.
The horror in A Tale Of Two Sisters is dictated by the underlying psychological aspects which run through the film. The emotional distress manifests through bizarre events which can be very creepy. Particularly eerie set pieces involve a gruesome Su-Mi nightmare laden with a subtext of menstruation, and a truly peculiar scene in which Mu-Hyun’s guests experience an outlandish dinner scenario. As the story progresses, the audience is often persuaded to question the validity and pragmatism of certain scenes, and, as the mental states of the characters become more mysterious, things are increasingly not what they seem.
Aesthetically, the film is beautiful. The visuals combine a surreal reverie with a dark and gothic aspect which makes for an excellent grouping. The opening scene, for example, is a visual delight. The shady and sterilised hospital room merges with an atmosphere of tension and ambiguity to produce a perfect starting block. Alongside the dark shadows which encompass the film are a litany of vivid and dazzling colours which bring out the films dream-like quality.
The overriding feeling whilst watching the film is of pure anxiety. As the film draws to a end, twists become apparent, which really do piece together the story. One criticism may be that the film is somewhat over-complicated, with some aspects of the film being superfluous. On occasions, it can be confusing, whilst at others, it can be like a Lucian Freud painting; both beautiful and gruesome, sometimes hard to watch, yet you cannot keep your eyes off it.
In what has been customary for successful East-Asian horror cinema of recent years, the film was given a Hollywood remake, The Uninvited (2009). However, this original is truly superior. An aesthetically beautiful, yet, at times, utterly disturbing film that delivers a deliciously disconcerting atmosphere throughout. CJG
Film: The Good The Bad The Weird
Release date: 15th June 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 126 mins
Director: Kim Ji-woon
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Jung Woo-sung, Jo Kyeong-hun, Kim Kwang-il
Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy/Western
Studio: Icon
Format: DVD
Country: South Korea
After achieving critical acclaim with his 2005 film A Bittersweet Life, South Korean director Kim Ji-woon went completely off-kilter with his follow-up.
Set in the 1930s of the lawless Far East, a mysterious map is being transported on a train across the desert to be taken to the Imperialist Japanese commanders. As it makes its way across the terrain, three bounty hunters make their way to stake their claim on the prize. Amidst the confusion, The Weird escapes with the map, forcing The Good and The Bad to put aside their conflict and leave the scene in search of the means to find the untold riches that map has knowledge of.
As the chase continues, with an ever-increasing array of antagonists adding themselves to the conflict, the disgruntlement becomes a skirmish, and the skirmish becomes an all out war. Building towards a gigantic battle royale in the heat of the desolate landscape, The Good, The Bad and The Weird each manipulate and make use of the various additions to the chase, as they dodge bullets, cannons, horses, machines and corpses en route to the final stand off around the prize they fought so hard to get to...
To critique The Good The Bad The Weird without making mention of the Sergio Leone masterpiece would be ignoring the obvious. It is evident that Kim Ji-woon has been highly influenced by the Man With No Name trilogy, in particular the revered climax to the story. The director has not attempted to copy, parody or pastiche the original creation, as there is an undeniable warmth and charm that is present throughout the chaotic discord. Kim Ji-woon has merely transferred elements of The Good, The Bad And The Ugly to an Eastern setting, but given it a slightly zany twist and ramped up the action to differentiate from the source. However, it is Kim Ji-woon’s instincts as an action director that let the project down when it needed guidance the most.
It’s no surprise when looking at the glossy shine and luscious cinematic panoramas that The Good The Bad The Weird is South Korea’s most expensively made film, but there is little plot. After the satisfactory and warming opening skirmish, there is little else to keep the viewer interested as the action gleefully, and unashamedly, hops from one set piece to the next. The mania comes thick and fast, but mainly in the thick, as segments are dragged out to ridiculous proportions, taking five, ten and sometimes even fifteen minutes longer than necessary just to fit in a ludicrous gunfight with absolutely no progression of the story. The climactic free-for-all that is the film’s penultimate sequence is turgid and overly long, but what is immensely infuriating is the complete lack of perspective or objective. The setting is a vast plain for miles on end, which spawns an orgy of mayhem from which anyone escaping could be easily seen, yet one of heroes manages, somehow, to ride out of the madness only for there to be a cut and all three of the bounty-hunters to be present at the locale.
What is unforgivable is the lack of attention and detail that goes into the three most important pieces of this cinematic puzzle, and that being the three main characters, which the film is named after. In East Asian cinema, there is always a greater deal of ambiguity present than in their European counterparts, but the way in which the traits of The Good, The Bad, and The Weird interchange at varying junctures is somewhat defeatist. Jung Woo-sung, who plays The Good, has evidently spent a great deal of time watching the spaghetti western trilogy - he mimics Eastwood’s stance, tone and style in an almost frighteningly accurate portrayal. However, while Woon’s creation doesn’t set out to be an imitation, at this point in The Man With No Name trilogy, Eastwood’s character had already adopted a softer stance, becoming much less of an anti-hero and more a traditional protagonist with attitude. Jung Woo-sung, unfortunately, finds himself lacking the necessary aura to provide legitimacy to his version of The Good, and suffers from the ever interchanging roles of the three gunmen.
Apart from some delightful camera work, and a score that echoes Morriconne’s iconic creation, The Good The Bad The Weird is an ultimately hollow experience that lurches back into the comfort of an action genre all too readily. It leaves the viewer wishing that Kim Ji-woon had perhaps shown some of the characteristics in A Bittersweet Life - cutting out some of the action and focusing more on character progression, allowing the individuals to flourish and come to life, so as not to be viewed as cardboard cut-outs.
While an enjoyable and unintelligible watch, bigger does not always mean better, and it leaves the viewer wondering whether another of South Korea’s plethora of talented directors could have created a more meaningful cinematic experience for a few dollars less. BL
Film: A Bittersweet Life
Release date: 24th April 2006
Certificate: 18
Running time: 120 mins
Director: Kim Ji-woon
Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Kim Yeong-cheol, Mina Shin, Kim Roe-ha, Hwang Jeong-min
Genre: Crime/Action/Thriller/Drama
Studio: Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: South Korea
A tale of love, loyalty, betrayal and revenge, A Bittersweet Life offers a critically acclaimed and award-winning insight into South Korea’s underworld.
Kim Sun-woo is a stoic criminal tasked with spying on his boss’ new girlfriend, Min-gi, while he is away, with the express instruction to kill her if she is seen with any other men. Meanwhile, gang leader Baek and Sun-woo’s chief rival Moon-suk target Sun-woo after a confrontation between the two crime families.
After discovering that the girl he is watching is seeing another man, Sun-woo contravenes his orders, as well as his better judgment, and spares the girl’s life. Sun-woo’s boss returns, discovers his employee’s indiscretion and promptly gives his lieutenant up to the rival gang.
Beaten, humiliated and buried alive, Sun-woo survives to take revenge on all that have betrayed him…
A delicate human drama punctuated by extended scenes of brutal, stylised violence, A Bittersweet Life is one man’s journey towards his inevitable death.
The action drama has become popular in eastern cinema over the last decade, the films of Chinese director Johnny To, in particular, juxtaposing slow burn emotional drama with balletic, Woo-esque violence. The violence within these films often serves to be a cathartic release, designed as a bloody conclusion to any tension built throughout the story, a stylish deus ex machina to tie up (or shoot) any loose ends. In Kim Ji-woon’s revenge thriller, the abrupt outbursts of choreographed violence are a direct representation of the central character’s volatile nature.
The film’s opening act is a sombre affair, at odds with the carnage that will later ensue. Hopeful moments between Sun-woo and Min-gi are undercut by the futility of their relationship - Sun-woo seeing a future with this woman, but knowing he will never be able to live it.
Kim Sun-woo is a wonderfully engaging character, and Lee Byung-hun is a magnetic screen presence. A man of few words and whose reactionary nature incurs the wrath of a rival gang boss at the film’s opening, and later causes him to disregard a direct order from his boss. Sun-woo is rage buried under an ingrained discipline that is counteracted by a woman he loves and knows he must kill. A man of barely contained emotion in a world where such a thing is forbidden, it’s Sun-woo’s anger and grief that drives the film.
Elsewhere, Kim Roe-ha impresses as the envious Mun-suk and Hwang Jeong-min’s psychotic Baek is comically OTT - all bang and bluster in contrast to Sun-woo’s smooth skills. Aside from this, the cast is disappointingly skeletal, the story choosing to focus almost exclusively on Sun-woo, a man who punches more than he speaks.
The action itself is highly impressive, from a lightning fast skirmish in a restraint booth to an epic final showdown, Kim Ji-woon and fight choreographer Heong Ji-jun (who tragically died in 2008 on the set of The Good The Bad The Weird) craft some truly beautiful set pieces. The climactic shoot out, in particular, is shot and scored like a Leone western, with Sun-woo playing out his last moments as the tragic anti-hero.
A bold mix of genres and styles, A Bittersweet Life shifts from western gangster flick to eastern crime fable, all the way to bloody revenge drama and back again. The film is often tonally muddled, yet it retains coherence thanks to Kim Ji-woon’s confident direction and Byung-hun’s charismatic lead. KT
