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This
film is really just a slice of life kind of movie, no real start
and no real end but a simple look at someone’s life. It’s
a soft movie with great characters and some diverse situations
that really bring out the intricacies of each character.
The film starts off with a kid called Cheol-min who is given a
dog by his policeman father, and as they grow up both the boy
and the dog become know as Strayed Doggy. We skip forward to his
teenage years and he is an outsider and the footballers in his
high school taunt him, and his dog. Theyfootballers decide to
trick him, and kill his dog. Cheol-min goes crazy and subsequently
beats the crap out of the guys that killed his dog, but his policeman
Dad stops him before he can attack the ringleader of the footballers,
and this rivalry is one that lasts until the end of the film.
We then skip forward again to see Cheol-min in his twenties, his
Dad is now a high ranking police officer and they now have a young
delinquent girl staying at their house doing chores and cooking.
The film at this point goes on to show Cheol-min joining a gang
and then challenging his previous rivals as the businessmen they
are now, and it builds to one of the most unbearable fight sequences
I have ever seen.
This film is by all means an odd one, but remarkably addictive
viewing. The look of the film is beautiful and you can see that
real care has been taken in designing the visual style. From its
use of detailed wide shots showing massive expanses to the gruelling
and explicit close up fight sequences. It’s not very complicated
but it’s suited fantastically to the characters and their
actions. This is another point worth going into, the actors are
fantastic in this film, particularly Woo-sun Jung. His ability
to convey an array of emotions without saying a word is nothing
short of remarkable. His father and the various other characters
have a real depth and make the unremarkable storyline very warm
in some places, and disturbingly realistic in others. The story
is nothing spectacular, it is well written but it is nothing we
have not seen before.
All round the film is great fun to watch with some harrowing moments
towards the end. Worth watching if only for the fantastic acting
and great cinematography.
-
Dr. Octopene
Extras
This
version of the film was the Digipak release and is a fantastic
2 disc limited edition in a lovely cover with some fantastic extras
all of which are, yes you guessed it, unsubtitled. The menus look
fantastic however and the general feel of the discs and package
design is beautiful to look at and well worth the money. It is
also worth pointing out that Digipak versions are very limited,
so whether you would be able to get hold of this version is very
questionable. But one worth searching for, definitely.
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