I watched this movie under the recommendation of Zhaoul's Weekend Movies, because it sounded like a pretty sick movie. And in all honesty it was pretty awesome.
Firstly, I liked the actors, I've seen the main leads in a few other movies but not many. I agree with Jeaniessi, in that I loved the intensity that both Ji Sub and Ji Hwan put into their acting and characters. I liked that even to the end his character didn't completely throw away the gangster life, but yet still showed enough character development that the audience could notice him caring. My only complaint would be the ending.. I loved that he stayed gangster but.. it was a bit strange. I kind of wanted it to carry on and show what happened after the movie but it kind of just ends. It keeps Ji Subs character as a cold-hearted asshole, but still, it left me a little bit dissapointed; dragging my overall score from a 9 to an 8.
The other thing I didn't like about this movie was that there wasn't really a message. Instead of gaining something from this like a normal movie, it gave of more just the feeling of 'this happened deal with it', due to the minimal changes in a few characters. I suppose you could delve deeper and say that it is a movie showing how two separate people can be similar and still hold contrasting ideals. Or that the pain of betrayal leads men in different directions. I don't know. It's mainly just the fact that the film finished so abruptly that I just sat there and said "Huh?". I waited for the credits to end as I was convinced that there would be a short after story or something, but there was none.
Now don't get me wrong, this is a pretty bad ass movie. If you like fight scenes, violence or sassy gangsters then this is the movie for you. And in a few places it made me laugh, or at the very least smirk.
The actual presentation of the film was ingenious. The play on contrasting characters, with the black vs white clothing. The way the authors repeated pieces of monologue in the film within the actual film that the characters were involved in. The way they showed that Kang Pae wasn't completely heartless and then proceeded to tear down that any joy you might of felt for him. The fact that So Ji Sub's name is Kang Pae, which means gangster, and Kang Ji Hwan's name is Su Ta, which means star. It's those tiny pieces of detailed which really perfected this film and makes it so good.
I did really enjoy watching this film, despite the abrupt ending. If you're looking for something exciting to watch at the weekend this is a very good recommendation. From reading reviews and comments I feel that it's a film you should interpret on your own, because like most indie-like films there a variety of opinions speculated around it. Watch it because it's not half bad :3
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