써니 (Sunny)

I watched this movie way back in Mexico (about two months ago), but I recently rewatched it while Husband was out cycling on the world's most dangerous road (Bolivia). I, of course, was not confident enough in my cycling ability or ability to function in extreme heights to even think about attempting such a journey, so I was quite happy to wander around La Paz for the day and then return to my hotel room and the awesomeness that is this movie, 써니 (Sunny)!

This movie has appeal on three levels.

1. Honest Portrayal of Girlhood and Maturing Female Friendships
There are about a kimchillion movies that explore and celebrate male friendships, but honest portrayals of women and their relationships with other women are pretty hard to find in film (the most recent decent girl movie... Bridesmaids?). I believed in the characters of Sunny right from the start. The friendship and interactions of the members of Sunny were believable and honest. That of course made the whole movie more relatable and entertaining.

2. Sweet Dual Timeline Accompanied by Awesome Soundtrack
This movie achieves the perfect balance between it's two equally awesome timelines, the main character's present and high-school lives. Neither one outshines the other. Both timelines are entertaining and engaging and integrate well into the whole of the film. Additionally, the high-school timeline has a pretty awesome soundtrack (both Western and Korean).

3. Sense of Humour
The writer of this film obviously has a great sense of humour. I will direct your attention to probably my favourite scene from a movie, ever.

See what I mean?

The only downside of this film is the ending which totally abandons the honest feel and resolves the problems of all the characters deus ex machina style. Lame!

Oh well, still one of my favourite movies ever. Go watch it. Right now.

범죄와의 전쟁 (Nameless Gangster)

I've been wanting to write about this movie for while... mostly because I've been wanting to watch this movie for a while.범죄와의 전쟁 (Nameless Gangster) came out in Korea in February 2012, but I couldn't find a cinema that was playing the film with English subtitles. Then, last month while staying at a youth hostel in Winnipeg, Husband and I met a university student from Korea who was travelling through Canada for the summer. Not only was she kind enough to give us a whole bag of 김, she also gave us a bunch of Korean movies, including 범죄와의 전쟁. Alas, her copy of the film was also without subtitles.

Well, I'd been periodically searching online for a subtitle file, but had found nothing. Husband and a friend got to talking about Korean movies, and 범죄와의 전쟁 instantly came to mind, so I searched again for a subtitle and finally found one!

I love police/gangster movies, particularly Asian ones. My university years were filled with Hong Kong police movies, and only recently have a starting watching some Korean gangster films. Well, 범죄와의 전쟁 did not disappoint.

The cast is pretty amazing. 최민식 (Choi Min Shik) of Old Boy fame plays a corrupt Busan customs agent who gets into relations with the mob after having to take the fall for his department's acceptance of bribes. Choi balances gangster coolness and tragic pity. His partner in crime is played by 하정우 (Ha Jung Woo) who is a total badass. To round out the cast is 곽도원 (Kwak Do Won), who plays the prosecutor determined to take down Choi as part of the president's "war on crime." Kwak plays the straight-laced prosecutor perfectly, and his first scene in the movie is one of my favorites.

The plot is good, but due to several time changes throughout the film, it can get a little confusing. It took me two viewings to really get it. I don't want to give to much away, so I'll just say that like a good gangster film should, it has action, emotion, violence, and betrayal.

As a bonus, here are my top 5 Asian police/gangster movies:

Police Story (Jackie Chan)
A Better Tomorrow (Chow Yun Fat)
Hard Boiled (Chow Yun Fat)
Infernal Affairs (Tony Leung)
Kill Zone (Donne Yen)

What's your favorite gangster movie (Asian or not)?

Ashu

실미도 (Silmido)

So I still haven't finished watching "친구." I talked to Boyfriend about it. Since he's Korean and all, I thought he might be able to justify my feelings of dissatisfaction with the film. Our conversation went a little something like this:

Ash: So I watched this movie, "친구," the other day.

BF: Oh yea? What did you think?

Ash: Well, actually I thought it was pretty boring. I didn't finish watching it.

BF: Yea, I guess that might be boring to you cause you're not Korean, but it made Busan guys look really cool.

There you have it. If you're from Busan, check out the film. Otherwise... meh? Of course, Boyfriend is from Busan.

I still feel like I should finish watching it, but alas, I've already moved on. A friend noticed my interest in Korean movies and kindly recommended "실미도." He prefaced this recommendation with "It's not awesome, but it's watchable." More proof that I have have terrible taste because I really enjoyed it.

실미도 is the name of an island that belongs to Korea. The film, which is apparently based on a true story, tells the story of a group of convicts and death-row inmates who are sent to this island to become an elite Kim Il Sung assassination squad. Their identities are erased, but they have a chance to redeem themselves by becoming the greatest heroes to their divided country. In a twist of fate, their assassination mission is terminated, and the government decides to terminate the team as well. The men must fight against their own government and the officers who trained them to preserve their place in history.

Terrible reasons why I like this movie:

I like any story when bad guys are rehabilitated and become awesome ass-kicking heroes. These days we're seeing a lot of films that explore possible "uses" for convicts and law-breakers, but they always seem to be in some kind of death game for the average person's viewing pleasure. I like this movie because it treats the bad guys like real characters who grow and change.

The exploration of identity issues is really cool. All of the men essentially lose their past identities when they are "executed." They must all painfully redefine themselves. One character is the son of a traitorous communist. He must find a way to escape his father's legacy. The best scene in the movie for me is when the men finally realize they are doomed to die. Their biggest fear is that their nation will believe the lies that they are communist soldiers instead of heroes. They end up all screaming their names and writing them in blood on the inside of a bus before committing mass suicide. Very John Proctor. "You have taken my soul. Leave me my name!" Totally badass.

I find the idea fascinating that there are things in our history which have been kept secret and are slowly leaked over time. The ending of the movie is really cool.

I guess that's all. On a side note, this movie is pretty long, so if you plan on watching it, make sure you have a good couple of hours.

Ashu

친구 (Friend)

I'm not a particularly subtle lady, so when I want to know about something I usually just come out and ask it... or in most cases (let's be real) I just google the shit out of everything. No surprises then that most of the Korean movies I've seen I heard about by google searching "top Korean movies." This method has not failed me yet. It may be the fact that I have terrible taste (or just no taste at all), but it takes a lot for me to not enjoy a movie. I consider it a blessing that I can be entertained so easily. Well, I had enjoyed every Korean movie that I had seen until yesterday when I attempted to watch "친구," known as "Friend" in English. I found this film listed on some rando's top 10 Korean films. In the company of "Sassy Girl," "Old Boy," and "빈집," I thought it might be good for a try.

I did not enjoy it.

Not that the movie is utterly terrible, cause even then I might have enjoyed it for it's utter terribleness. I just didn't care. Not a single character or situation was able to elicit any feeling at all from me, a sad experience for someone as easily delighted or enraged as I am.

The film is the story of 4 childhood friends as they grow up, lose their innocence, etc. I'm all for a good coming of age story of friendship, so I really have trouble pinpointing exactly what did not do it for me in this movie. Maybe it's simply the fact that I'm a woman and so I felt alienated by isolation in the male friendship world of the film. Maybe that's why I didn't care. I certainly hate to think that's why. I like to think I could appreciate an honest look into male friendship, but maybe that's not true. Honestly I'm still processing.

I didn't actually finish the film. Frankly if a movie doesn't make me feel something in the first 45 minutes, I don't feel guilty about abandoning it mid-watch. I'm going to try to give it another go this week, for fairness alone. I'll let you know how that goes. Perhaps there's some fantastically redeeming ending that will make me eat my words.

I hope so.

Ashu

빈집 (3-Iron)

I watch a lot of movies. It's a sad reality of my life. These days I'm watching a lot of Korean movies in an attempt to a) find movies that I haven't already seen, and b) pretend like I'm practicing my Korean. Last night I watched "빈집" or "3-Iron" as it's known in English.

The movie poster is kind of lame, but take my word for it; it's worth watching.

빈집 means empty house. The story follows a young man who breaks into people's houses while they're away on vacation. He stays in each house for a night, fixing things that are broken and taking pictures with the family portraits. One night the home he thinks is abandoned is actually still hiding a battered housewife. The young man ends up injuring the abusive husband when he returns home and running away with the wife.

The most interesting thing about this film is the lack of dialogue between the two main characters. The young man does not say one line for the entire film, and the woman's lines can be counted on one hand. This exploration of silence and intimacy is reason enough to seek out this film if you haven't seen it already.

The silent hero ends up spending some time in jail where he becomes totally badass and masters something similar to Bagua kung fu. The ending is quietly tragic and yet somehow still satisfying. Definitely check this movie out if you're looking to get into Korean cinema or just searching for something far from ordinary.

Ashu