A Bittersweet Life (DVD)

.../> The story focuses on a successful young man called ‘Sun Woo’ (Lee Byung Hun), who is in charge of a high classed hotel in the middle of the Capital city of Seoul. Although successful, Sun Woo is not a happy chap and seems slightly lonely and self contained when facing the public. As part of the Mafia, his ‘Boss Jang’ (Kim Young Cheol) had a new job for Sun Woo. As the boss trusted him so much, he decided to give Sun Woo the mission to investigate ...
...got to know Hee Siu a bit better, he finally discovers that the boss was right, she has been seeing another guy. One late night, Sun Woo bombarded her house, and attacked her younger lover. He finally got his gun and about to kill Hee Siu as instructed. However, his emotion has got the better of him and decided to let them go out of pity. On the condition that they two young lover will never see each other again.

Sun Woo’s kind but ... more

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SYNOPSIS
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The story focuses on a successful young man called ‘Sun Woo’ (Lee Byung Hun), who is in charge of a high classed hotel in the middle of the Capital city of Seoul. Although successful, Sun Woo is not a happy chap and seems slightly lonely and self contained when facing the public. As part of the Mafia, his ‘Boss Jang’ (Kim Young Cheol) had a new job for Sun Woo. As the boss trusted him so much, he decided to give Sun Woo the mission to investigate on her new young lover called ‘Hee Su’ (Shin Miu Ah).

Boss Jang is deeply in love with his new girlfriend, however he is suspecting that she has been betraying him by having another lover. Boss Jang is old enough to be her father; it must be too good to be true for such delicate girl to fall for him. Sun Woo must keep an eye on her every move for three days and if the prediction was true and she was cheating on Boss Jang, Sun Woo must terminate the both of them. Sun Woo has been with Boss Jang for seven years and has never failed any assignments given.

As Sun Woo got to know Hee Siu a bit better, he finally discovers that the boss was right, she has been seeing another guy. One late night, Sun Woo bombarded her house, and attacked her younger lover. He finally got his gun and about to kill Hee Siu as instructed. However, his emotion has got the better of him and decided to let them go out of pity. On the condition that they two young lover will never see each other again.

Sun Woo’s kind but disobedient decision meant Boss Jang couldn’t trust him anymore. This angered his boss so much, that Jang’s whole organisation is out to get Sun Woo and turned against him in a matter over one night. This resulted in Sun Woo running and fighting for his life. The luxury life that he once had was no more. Sun Woo will discover that he could be betrayed by the same people who he thought was loyal to him – a hint of karma. The path that Sun Woo is about to embark will be violent and unforgettable.

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REVIEW
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Well, the plot of the film sounds like a stereotypical gangster film, where loyalty hand trust has been misjudge with the element of revenge and violence thrown into one dish. The theme of the film could be understood by the western and eastern world at present day.

The film was directed by Kim Jee Woon, the same person who made ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’. Although the film has been compared to ‘Oldboy’, the director chose to use a linear path with no real twist or turns and has opted out on complex storyline.

Although strange, you can somewhat understand Sun Woo’s character. The actor Lee Byung Hun, was able to deliver a cool hitman persona. However, I felt that this has backfired as Sun Woo’s character was slightly too cool. A man needs to express some sort of emotion, some sort of passion for revenge. His lack of emotion meant that we might not always emphasise with his revenge. It is a shame that the film does not reveal the character of Sun Woo to the audience. We had no opportunity to identify with him.
The other character in Bittersweet Life has done their job to communicate the story, but no one particularly stood out. The actress that played Hee Su performed well, though not enough screen time was given to develop her character. It was somewhat frustrating that Sun Woo has got into so much trouble for this girl, but no more was on her once Boss Jang wanted to kill Sun Woo. It would have been satisfying if there was a love story between them and that Sun Woo betrayed Boss Jang out of love.

Boss Jang and his evil gang posies were able to express their ruthless characters, by horribly torturing Sun Woo without a hint of remorse. It was realistic to an extend that Sun Woo is no Jackie Chan, and that he is not invincible. Sun Woo did get beaten up and capture for more torturing. This made the film tense to watch.

The film has some impressive choreography, even though it is in terms of violence. Bittersweet Life is watchable, even though those who are not fans of the genre, as there are the element of dark comedy.

The atmosphere and the mood of Bittersweet life is generally dark, and you can see a gradual development of darkness in terms of storyline and colour as the film goes on. I feel that due to the downfall of relating to the characters, the dark mood is slightly lost in translation.

The director, Kim Jee Woon has a detailed taste for cinematography, with fantastic visual images and attention to chosen locations and sets. His last film was ‘A Tale of Two Sisters,’ which was claimed as one of the creepiest Asian horrors. His latest work of Bittersweet life proves that he can give the same effect on whatever genre he chooses.

Would I recommend Bittersweet Life to others? Yes to an extent. It’s not everyone’s genre of film. Though who loves the gangster, action and fighting films, then it could be for you as it caters it. It is a watchable film, though a bit unnecessarily long. It is a film noir, which in itself attracts a certain audience. I usually dislike films where I cannot relate to the character, yet this seems to be an exception. I don’t love it but did enjoy watching it overall.

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INFO
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Director = Kim Jee Woon
Writing Credit = Kim Jee Woon
Year = 2006
Duration = 120 minutes
Language = Korean with English Subtitles
Cert = 18 

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