A Bittersweet Life Movie Review:


The new Korean movie from Ji-woon Kim, director of “A Tale of Two Sisters,” “A Bittersweet Life” is another one of those modern Asian action movies that use violence not just for entertainment (although it serves that function too), but as an arena for the characters to exorcise their inner turmoil, letting us see into their state of mind. It contains lots of fight scenes, but unlike most modern Hollywood action movies, the fighting is there almost as an artistic expression. Between the fighting, an involving story develops that is more intriguing than many would expect.

The main character is Seon-woo (Byung-hun Lee), an ‘enforcer’ for President Kang (Jeong-cheol Kim), a rich, dangerous hotel owner. If Kang needs people taken care of, Seon-woo will deal with it. One day, President Kang mentions to Seon-woo that he is seeing a much younger woman, and that he suspects she is cheating on him. If Seon-woo finds out this is the case, he is to kill both the girl and her other lover.

Seon-woo goes to meet his boss’s mistress, and begins to fall for her; this is revealed not through Seon-woo’s face, which remains expressionless, but through the sensuous close-ups of the girl, as seen from Seon-woo’s point of view. He finds out soon enough that President Kang’s suspicions were correct, and she is having a relationship with another man. He goes into her house to kill them, but… well, you can probably guess what happens. Seon-woo comes from such a closed world that he thinks that she might fall for him if he decides not to kill her, not realising that this isn’t quite the same thing as saving her life.

I will reveal no more about the plot, other than to say the movie ends up as a revenge story; I wouldn’t dream of saying between whom or why. The action and the violence get more intense as the story develops, leading to a stunning climax which is a sort of battle ground in which East meets western.

The first third of the movie, in which a relationship of sorts develops slowly and subtly between the girl and Seon-woo, is not what you might expect in this type of movie; there is a scene where he just sits and watches her play the cello; no action, no dialogue. You suspect that Seon-woo hasn’t ordinarily got much time for women in his line of work.

What I found most interesting about the character was the fact that his hard, nasty side, effective and even chilling, is really just a front: an act, to protect himself. When he is alone, he occasionally mumbles to himself. There is a scene where he is just driving, and you can see the edge of a smile on his face. He has probably never known a life without evil and violence, but at such moments, you suspect that he is basically a normal guy.

Like many recent movies of this genre, it’s stylishly made and contains a good deal of dark humour. My favourite moment in the entire movie came when one character shows another how to strip a gun. Both guns are stripped, and one tells the other that they should put them together and to see who is fastest. Just then, one gets a phone call, telling him the other is not who he thinks he is. The man knows what the other just heard on the phone. Both look at their guns, lying in pieces, and they realise – just as the audience does – that they are going to have to put the guns back together, and the one who does first will have the upper hand in the situation. It’s a moment that mixes tension, violence and humour in a way that would not be out of place in a Tarantino movie. Like the whole movie, it’s a juggling act. “A Bittersweet Life” contains philosophy and genuine emotion within the context of a violent and superbly entertaining action movie.

Adam Whyte

Stylish and full of attitude, this elegant revenge thriller has worms itself under our skin with vivid characters and jolting emotions. It's ultimately rather indulgent, but filmmaker Kim Ji-woon has enough skill to make it work.

Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) is a loyal employee of mob boss Kang (Kim Young-chul) who, when he goes on a business trip, asks Sun-woo to watch over his young girlfriend (Shin) and "take care of things" if he discovers she's having an affair. She is, and the coolly efficient Sun-woo has a moment of conscience, letting the guy leave if he promises never to return. But this decision seems to unleash the powers of hell against him--namely a vindictive rival gang and Sun-woo's ambitious colleague (Kim Roi-ha).

As the film gets increasingly violent and intense, the director maintains a dry, sardonic tone that makes the gruesome bloodletting almost comical. The character inter-reactions are sharply witty and timed to perfection, and the fight scenes show true inventiveness that never undermines the realism (unlike most Hollywood studio fight choreography). It's all so believable that we find ourselves drawn into Sun-woo's absurd situation.

Performances are equally realistic, layering world-weariness with tenacious arrogance. These people are so sure of themselves that they'd rather fight to the death than admit they might be wrong. And even when they should lie down and die of their injuries, they keep going. Kim uses everything he can think of (hair, costumes, glasses, sheer attitude) to make sure we know exactly who each character is from scene to scene. Even when he springs a mystery man (Moon) on us near the finale, we know this is someone from outside the gang world.

This is thrillingly entertaining cinema--gripping, ingenious, moving. When Sun-woo's world implodes due to a moment of emotional empathy, we find ourselves locked with him as the situation escalates beyond all sense of reason. Kim takes a few unnecessary sideroads in the final act, so the film feels overlong and a bit muddled at the very end. But as Sun-woo's quest for vengeance (or justice) inevitably leads to a surreal apocalypse, he beautifully pushes home the central theme of suppressed, unreachable dreams.

Rich Cline

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