Korean Cowboys? (Re-review)

Yesterday I put together an archive page of all the things I'd written on this blog. Whilst I did this I read back through some old blog posts and realised how bad some of them were. Here I am wanting to promote my blog and it has some terrible reviews. So, I've decided to re-review a few. Particularly ones on films that I want people to read about. Today's film is a western with a twist: it is Korean. It is a tribute to classic westerns, particularly The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but it it is its own movie entirely. This is The Good, The Bad, The Weird. (Original review, should you want to compare, is here)

The plot plays tribute to the overall story from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Well, at its most basic level. Three men, one treasure. Leading to the treasure is a treasure map which is in the bag of a very important banker on a train somewhere. On that train is Yoon Tae-goo (Kang-ho Song), otherwise known as The Weird, with the intention of stealing a load of money from this banker. Also on the train is bounty hunter, Park Do-won (Woo-sung Jung), The Good, trying to make some money by catching criminals, like Yoon Tae-goo. Planning to stop the train is Park Chang-yi (Byung-hun Lee), The Bad, and his thugs in order to get his hands on the map. Havoc breaks out and, somehow, Yoon Tae-goo (The Weird) gets away with the map. Cue a wild goose chase to get the map and the treasure: the three men constantly battling for the map as well as being pursued by the Japanese Army and Chinese Bandits. With too many battles to count, who will get there first, and alive, to claim the treasure?

The expression, 'You're screwed,' springs to mind.

When the film was announced, fans of Korean action were sceptical towards Byung-hun Lee playing the bad, borderline psychopath, Park Chang-yi. Their worries were completely ungrounded. Lee does not just nail the role, he encapsulates it. He makes it his own. If there is ever an American remake of the film, there is no one who could capture the role quite like Lee. He is cruel, brutal, smart, vengeful, and sexy. He strikes a perfect balance with his co-stars. Both he and Jung (The Good) are calm, cool, and collected which contrasts wonderfully with Song's manic, weird, and crazy performance as Yoon Tae-goo. Song brings most of the comedy to the film, dodging bullets with a divers helmet, getting offended that his bounty is only the amount of a used piano. He never slips from his excitable persona but there is clearly something deeper, more psychotic there. Finally, Woo-sung Jung is the coolest of the bunch. Swinging through the skies on a rope firing at Chinese thugs, it doesn't get much cooler than that. He never raises his voice or does anything extreme, but at all times it seems that he is the one in charge. His interaction with Song's Weird shows his power, smarts, and also his wit.

'How to Look Good Whilst Killing' The latest novel from Park Chang-yi

Direction from Jee-woon Kim is possibly the most underrated that cinema has to offer. There is no film shot quite like The Good, the Bad, The Weird. Cameras follow the action closely but also give a feeling that the audience are involved. Spinning camera shots through action creates the illusion the the audience are now right there, experiencing it through a first person perspective. Not only this, but a lot of it is simply beautifully shot. The men riding through the desert on horses or motorbikes, shooting one another over long empty landscapes, riding horses at sunset, everything is just astounding. The script, too, is something that is completely underrated. It may be due to the language barrier but not only is it hilarious, it is also peculiarly philosophical - "People must know that they’re going to die, and yet they live as though they never will. Hilarious." There's a brilliant moment near the beginning in which the Chinese thugs are overlooking the chaos on the train and discuss how they have no clue what is happening. A very funny moment. Also, listen out for the tribute to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly's iconic score during the visually breathtaking chase scene near the end. Super.

An incredible example of foreign films being better than a lot of the films that Hollywood produces. Specifically, it looks at remakes not being the only option for great films. This film is a tribute that has a similar base plot to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but solidifies itself as a classic without actually remaking the film it adores. A must see. If you're put off by the idea of subtitles, you are missing out horribly. Do a bit of reading and watch this fantastic film.

Best Bit? Well, it'll have to be the final chase scene. Everything about it is awesome. It is on such a massive scale, and yet it is easy to follow all the individual characters as they fight. Simply brilliant.

Oldeuboi

There is nothing cryptic about today's title, it is simply the original Korean title for the movie we're looking at. This movie has been hailed as one of the greatest international movies ever made and it stands at number 92 on IMDb's Top 250 films. It's considered the best film in the loosely connected 'Vengeance Trilogy'. So is it up to the hype that surrounds it? We'll see. Today, we're reviewing Oldboy.

The movie opens with a mysterious man dangling another man over the edge of a building by his tie. When asked what his name is we cut away to Dae-su Oh (Min-sik Choi) in a police station, very drunk and out of control. He is picked up by No Joo-hwan (Dae-han Ji) but soon lost at a phone booth. Dae-su Oh wakes up in a room. He has no idea who has trapped him here and he has no idea why. He spends the next fifteen years trapped in his little room with only a tv for company. He begins to train, build up his strength, and find a way to escape. He swears vengeance on whoever trapped him and when he is finally out of the room he goes on a journey to find the truth. With help from Joo-hwan and Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang) he begins to unravel the mystery surrounding his capture.

The low prices at Oldboy hotel literally had people fighting for rooms.

All performances in the movie are outstanding. Min-sik Choi is outstanding as Dae-su. His emotions are gritty and raw. It's absolutely captivating to watch him from start to finish. Not only is his tantrum in the police station one of the funnier scenes I've seen for a long time, his brutality which verges on insanity is horrible to watch yet impossible to look away from. At some points you'll like him, some points you won't, and some you'll just be shocked by him. It's brilliant. As an antagonist, Ji-tae Yu is fantastic as Woo-jin Lee. He has a perfect balance between psychotic and plain evil. He's got enough of a human side to develop a tiny bit of sympathy for him but  mainly he's crazy and cruel.

What really stood out for me in this movie was the technical side of things. Chan-wook Park really knows what he's doing as a director. Everything is perfectly timed. Everything looks perfect. Everything is perfect as far as the technical aspects are concerned.  The fight scenes, particularly the long corridor fight, are spectacularly shot. The corridor fight scene involves a huge number of guards against one man. The first camera shot shows us how small the corridor actually is. The next one is a an extremely long single shot that follows the fight down the side of the corridor. It's incredible to watch. The use of sound in the film is also brilliant. Often music (or more often silence) will juxtapose what's happening on screen. It creates a really eerie atmosphere that works wonderfully with the explicit nature of the film.

Some people thought Dae-su had a fear of lifts. He didn't He was scared of women.

Overall, this film is definitely not for the faint hearted. While it has funny moments, they are completely outweighed. There's even a tooth-pulling scene, something that really makes me wince. However, it is a great movie and well worth a watch... if you can stand it. And pay attention. It twists more than a roller coaster.

Best Bit? It has to be the corridor fight scene. Cinematic brilliance as well as wonderfully choreographed.

P.S. It looks like a western adaption of this has been announced. Spike Lee is set to direct and Josh Brolin to star. While I know not all adaptions and remakes are terrible (Infernal Affairs - The Departed) I still don't like how many of modern films are remakes or western adaptions or reboots of already great movies or franchises. But then again, it may be awesome. We'll see. Perhaps it'll look something like this:

Josh Brolin as Dae-su?

Korean Cowboys?

I'm beginning to really love foreign language films. Here is a film that took a famous western and put it in South Korea.

The Good The Bad The Weird pays tribute to the classic, The Good The Bad And The Ugly. Plenty of little in jokes for fans of the western to pick up on as well as little character traits. (The weird/The ugly both brush their teeth with their fingers.) The plot is far simpler than the original. Set in the 1940's, two outlaws and a bounty hunter go on the search of treasure due to a map. Following them are Chinese gangs and the Japanese army. Far less side plots. Not that side plots are a bad thing... But if you have a short attention span like a lot of young people nowadays, this film is easier to watch. Unless you dislike subtitles.

"Check out this backwards shooting!"

Firstly, I noticed straight away how awesome the camera work was. I mean.. It's really incredible at some points. The chase at the end... WOW. So there's not that much of a score (Though during the chase listen for the background tribute to The Good The Bad & The Ugly's score.) but the other technical aspects make up for that. The action sequences are suburb and wonderful to watch. Not only are they full of action but they're also cool and fun. The cast are wonderful. Some may think Byung-hun Lee was the wrong choice for Park Chang-yi / The Bad, but they're wrong. His 'pretty boy' exterior may seem odd for a crazy killer type person but it just makes it all the more effective when he whips out his knife and starts madly slashing people up. Kang-ho Song (Yoon Tae-goo / The Weird) fits his role perfectly. He is weird. There is very few other ways of describing it. But he was brilliant. Woo-sung Jung (Park Do-won / The Good) is just plain cool. From the moment we first see him shooting at The Bad and The Weird plus henchmen, till the very last second. Especially his part in the chase scene.... Wow.

 

Guess Who is Who

Some fun facts about the film... Woo-sung Jung, The Good, broke his arm during filming... This was the most expensive South Korean Film to be made (as of 2009)... And something that made me chuckle: Director Woo-sung Jung claimed he would like this to be called a 'kimchee western' after the Korean food made with fermented cabbages. He says he thinks the plot and film are spicy and vibrant, like the Korean culture and people. Of course, The Good The Bad And The Ugly was a 'Spaghetti western' due to it being a western made by Italians. Really worth a watch if you can be bothered to read subtitles. I dislike it when films aren't given a fair chance because people won't read a little.

 

Best Bit? The Chase Scene. It's awesome. Armies, gangs, outlaws, weirdos, cars, horses, moterbikes... It has everything.