a bittersweet life

Starting as it means to go on this is a perfect slice of Korean ultra-violence, mashing up gangster mobs and gone wrong jobs. The main character opens the film by ploughing into a gang of idiots who wont leave his club with all the energy of Bruce Lee but without even wrinkling his suit. He is a seriously cool cucumber and nifty with his hands. As the story progresses in all its Tarantino style and gore we get twists, betrayals, beautifully shot scenes and amazing fights. If anything this film combines all the subtlety of say ‘spring, summer, autumn, winter, spring’ with the sharp suits and bloody violence of ‘Goodfellas’. At times there are also moments of comedy to lighten the mood but it’s the set pieces like the amazing end sequence that leaves you on the edge of your seat. With ancient philosophy adding a final twist right at the end this is one the best foreign action films I have seen for a long time