by Allan Fish
(South Korea 2008 130m) DVD1/2
Aka. Joheunnom nabbeonnum isanghannom
Close your eyes, kids
p Jai-Won Choi d Kim Jee-woon w Kim Jee-woon, Kim Min-suk ph Lee Mo-gae, Oh Seung-chul ed Nam Na-young m Dalparan, Yang Yeong-gyu art Cho Hwa-Sung
Song Kang-ho (Yoon Tae-go – the Weird), Lee Byung-hun (Park Chang-yi – the Bad), Jung Woo-sung (Park Do-won – the Good), Jo Kyeong-hun (Doo-chae), Oh Dal-su (Man-gil), Lee Cheong-a (Song-i), Ma Dong-seok (Bear),
As I write this piece, Quentin Tarantino has just received his second Oscar nomination for Inglourious Basterds. I begrudge QT nothing, he’s a wonderfully infectious guy, but it’s a nomination to make you weep, for through all its flashy action highlights and Christoph Waltz’s deliciously nasty performance, there really was little to admire about Basterds, except perhaps as further proof that the man who made Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction was beginning to prove what we always thought; that success had gone to his head. If you want to see the sort of film Tarantino wishes he himself could make, you need to go to his beloved far-east, more specifically to Korea, where Kim Jee-woon crafted a film that not only does what Tarantino could only wish his Basterds could have been, but outdoes even his Kill Bill (and pays reference to it musically) and goes even further still. Described by those culture vultures of MTV as being “everything that the latest Indiana Jones flick should have been”, in actual fact it’s everything Raiders of the Lost Ark should have been and too often wasn’t.
The title should tell you, though, that, more than anything, we’re in Sergio Leone territory, except moved forward from the US Civil War to Manchuria in the early 1940s. The plot is similar, and for three differing characters in search of loot in a cemetery, there’s three hard fellows in search of a treasure map. One, Yoon Tae-go (the weird), rides around on a motorcycle with sidecar and makes his living robbing trains. The second, Park Chang-yi, is a notoriously sadistic bandit believed to be the legendary Finger Chopper of criminal legend. The last, Park Do-won, is a bounty hunter doing it purely for the money. Yet they are not the only ones, as rivals bandit gangs, the Manchurian army, the Japanese army and assorted other weasels are also after the treasure. It all ends with a three way shoot-out surrounding an oil well.
The plot itself, then, is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly regurgitated, but the shots, the individual frissons, are equally if not more so straight from Leone’s other films. The extended train robbery that jolts the film into overdrive from Act I pays reference to Once Upon a Time in the West, and it’s probably the most referenced of all the Leone films. Even the final shoot out copies the set-up of West, right down to one of the characters betraying an old cause for revenge, much like Charles Bronson’s Harmonica. Chuck in a hat shooting riff from For a Few Dollars More and more Leone extreme close-ups and you have a feast for Leone addicts everywhere.
The characters meanwhile, are of different stock. Yoon Tae-go seems to channel the energy of Jackie Chan, Park Do-won may wear the duster of Cheyenne’s men in West and act like Eastwood’s ‘Man with no Name’, but he might just as easily be Indiana Jones in search of the Ark. Best of all, there’s Park Chang-yi, who seems to be channelling the spirit of Besson’s Leon, dressing and performing like Gary Oldman’s demented copper (but moving to Glenn Miller, not the classical masters), yet settling down to watch It Happened One Night to evoke memories of Jean Reno. All three leads play with gusto and wonderful abandon, the editing could not be more edgy, the tone just this side of inane. Tarantino’s Basterds were a bunch of renegades in a country under occupation, and so are Kim’s trio. Both feature cringing moments of sadism and hilarious violence, but one leaves you with a sense of overall disappointment, one with a feeling of exhilaration. I needn’t tell you which is which. Be sure to watch the original Korean ending.
“..crafted a film that not only does what Tarantino could only wish his Basterds could have been..”
I haven’t seen Sukiyaki Western Django yet, but i red the same thing about it.
Keep meaning to watch this again on DVD, despite my own advice below. Summed it up thus at the time:
“On the whole, this film is a marvel of puerile nonsense built around three riveting central performances. Packed with panache, flamboyant to a fault, and entirely entertaining, it is one of those works that should only ever be shown in movie theatres, as it is intended to be bigger, bolder, and brasher than life! Indeed, the world is divided into two kinds of people, those who will have a fabulous time watching this escapist mayhem and those who never get to see it.
Noodle easterns, it would seem, make for a fine cinematic repast!”
And Loingman, as most of the visitors are American, guess which camp they fall into 🙂
Well, I guess we know what film won’t be showing up on your countdown! 😉
As a fan of Leone’s spaghetti westerns, LEON, and am warming a little to INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, this one has me intriqued. It precisely the bigger than life sterotypes that Leone brought to his films (later, emmulated by Spielberg, Tarantino and Besson) that always attracted me to his work and has me interested in seeing this film. The overall, how do I put it, EXTREMES that movies like this take are very fun to me. Hell, I was oner of the few that even fell for the Leone inspired Raimi film THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. I guess my reasoning for liking stuff like this is that it reminds me of the extremes comic books take and that, in turn, takes me back to my childhood where, like many, I dreamed of being a cowboy and gun-slinger. Funny, now all I wanna be is left alone to see films and dream. How times change. Liked this review a lot. You got me interested.
So now, the call for help goes out. I just checked with my local BLOCKBUSTER and the pot-smoking moron clerk over there said he never heard of this film after repeatedly trying to explain to him I wasn’t getting Leone’s title wrong. HELP, SAM!!!!!! Do you have this movie? I’ll cross my fingers here too. I know I saw REVOLUTIONARY ROAD on his shelves last week. The kids and I scoured every inch of the home library for it. Melanie said she knows she saw it in the house too. When questioned about its whereabouts, Sam replied: “I NEVER BOUGHT THAT ONE”. Let’s take a guess which of the two I believe!
America ignored it, Dennis, though it available everywhere else, going for a fiver on amazon UK>
He didn’t buy it as he had the 787the release of The Wizard of Oz to put into a strong box under the air hockey table with the rest of the pointless re-releases.
Sam had never heard of TGTBATW, Dennis, it’s one of those films which shows the blinkered nature of R1 only viewing.People who expect everything to come to the US, when some of the best never does.
So I didn’t hear of one single film of 100 choices here. I guess I’m “blinkered” then.
No, but aside from OUI MAIS, which I introduced you to, name ONE film of 2000-2009 that you know of that didn’t appear in US cinemas. Give me one?
Don’t worry, old boy, I’ll give you a few throughout this countdown. I admitted the silents were an education, SO WILL THIS BE!!!
I know it sounds harsh, but it frustrates me that people don’t look away from the US for releases. The attitude seems to be that if it doesn’t make it to their backyard, it’s no good. Not at all, just that in some cases, it’s not financially viable or, in the case of Weird, it merely shows up what a hack Tarantino has become.
There are people in the UK and everywhere else just as bad, always waiting for the mountain to come to Mohammed.
As for the education, there will be surprises along the way, not just of the NEVER HEARD OF THIS variety, but of the ARE YOU KIDDING, WTF variety, to which i can reply YES, I AM SERIOUS, AND POSTERITY WILL BEAR ME OUT.
MOVIEMAN-I think you’re right. I don’t see INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS showing here either. Although I’ve warmed up to the Tarantino film a lot since I saw it last winter, I still feel guarded about it. Yes, its true that I’ve released some reserve pertaining to his witty script and the off-beat and often hysterical dialoque (“watching the Bear Jew beat a mans brains in is the closest thing we get to goin to the movies these days”) as well as his scene construction (the opening sequence on the dairy farm is unforgettable) as well as the performances (Brad Pitt give a under-appreciated comic turn). But, I’m still nervy about his gratuitous violence (did he have to make us see the Nazi’s head reduced to a bag of change?) and his re-writing of history. At this point in time I don’t LOVE BASTERDS. But, I certainly don’t HATE it (the moment Shosanna kisses the projectionist still cracks me up). Maybe time will allow me to become kinder to this problem film. Ya never know.
While I left Inglourious Basterds feeling more exhilirated than disappointed, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be more exhilirated by this film, which I have read about, at least. They seem like two of a kind, and I hope that Alan’s using TGTBATW as a club (or bat) to beat Basterds with won’t make Tarantino’s admirers assume that the Korean film is an opposite experience. He’s described a movie that I now want to see.
“BLINKERED”!!!!!!!! That’s hilarious!
Except when it comes to finding said strongbox full of copies of The Wizard of Oz on old video camera pointed at the TV, Betamax, VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, etc. He stands in front of it every evening, claps his heels together three times and thinks there’s no food like egg whites and spinach. Then he turns into Popeye.
Would this be considered a ‘Lo-Mien Western’? I’ve never seen it but Allan’s review here has made be seek it out–an act I am doing presently.
I was wrong, £4 on amazon UK…
yep, just got it… can’t wait to view it.
And at that price, I just placed an order there myself!
Sam,
this film is opens up this Friday at the IFC Center!!!
Wow John! Thanks for the heads-up! I’ll be over there with bells on!!!!
As usual, SOOOOOOOO yesterday’s news… 🙂
I wanted to give everyone an FYI, if you have on demand on your cable (I have comcast as my carrier), this is now available in in the IFC in theaters section for rental– for me it’s $6.99 (almost as much as buying it from amazon UK). so if anyone wants to see it it’s starting to get out there in the US.
My copy arrived today and I am just about to view it… will return when the experience is over.
So I watched this last night, (I ordered it from yesasia so the delivery time was quicker–it was more expensive then the amazon but they had a buy 2 get one free deal I couldn’t pass up. I also ordered a film I have wanted to see for years and will view soon: PEPPERMINT CANDY. Has anyone seen this one?) and I must say I liked it quite a bit. The set pieces are a hoot and the three principal leads are all pretty terrific. My personal favorite, ‘The Bad’ character was really fantastic. I must assume this director will be working in Hollywood VERY SOON, his action chops would be a breath of fresh air around here.
I was left thinking mostly about Allan’s Tarantino comparisons, they are very comparable, and I would say in some ways I do prefer this film to the KILL BILLS and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, but in some ways Tarantino still shines. The use of music for example, Tarantino is superior (I thought the music was the one thing missing for a clearer connection to the Leone films). But the fact is is they are widely different filmmakers, Jee-woon is more Spielberg then Tarantino, at least to me. Your comparisons to INDIANA JONES are spot on. Perhaps this is my beef (and maybe yours) with recent Tarantino, he’s trying too hard to be an action director when really his talents are superior elsewhere. To say this film is better then recent Tarantino is to turn turn a blind eye (or ear) to his dialogue, he still does it as good as anyone… and the ’00s Tarantino’s all feature better, wittier dialogue then this film. But, as I said earlier, Jee-woon is not interested in this, the more power to him. What is clear is that more Americans should see this film.
I have also bumped up Jee-woon’s horror film A TALE OF TWO SISTERS on my netflix, it had been there for years and now it will finally be viewed. So thanks for that.
But Tarantino writes dialogue that tries to be self-consciously cool and turns out to be just ridiculously pompous. It was OK in Dogs and Pulp, but it’s one dimensional. Somebody who writes great dialogue writes it without you thinking “this is pure such a body” Greatness is apparent without signposting it.
This is certainly true. I came away from TGTBTW thinking ‘Tarantino should just make crime pictures’, as it’s a genre that leads itself to that kind of thing, war films, kung-fu exploitation, slasher films do not. It is ‘forcing it’ or ‘signposting’ as you say.
He makes films that he wants to see and thinks the world wants to see. Just remember, many of his films are inspired by pieces of cinematic shit (ever seen the truly deplorable original BASTERDS?). Kill Bill was OK, but it was still hugely derivative and self-indulgent and, in part Two, often downright tedious…
Yeah the original BASTERDS is poor. I really think Tarantino needs to hang out with some more talented people… I mean imagine if his friends were PT Anderson or Von Trier or even Sofia Copolla, they would all drive him to make better films and not be so damn egotistic (and I say this as a fan of his films). And I know he’d probably say ‘All these people are my friends!’ but they are more acquaintances to him then anything else. Look at who his great bud is now? Eli Roth? Who you know is more of a yes man/ego stroker to Tarantino it seems, as all his films blow and Tarantino IS a master to him. I got to think Roth doesn’t challenge him for a second, and for some reason he loves/needs that.
The good thing about Tarantino recently is that DEATH PROOF tanked, and he lost the best original screenplay Oscar for IB that I’m sure he assumed he’d win. Maybe this can drive him to new greater heights, we’ll see.
Note to anybody living in the Boston-to-Portland, ME corridor: The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (which is not currently available on Netflix except under the “saved” option) will be playing at the Screening Room in Newburyport, MA at 7:30 thru Thursday…
That sounds like a great place to see this film Joel. Are you in the area at all?
Yes, I live in Boston and my folks live on the New Hampshire seacost – unfortunately I missed it this week, along with a screening of Clockwork Orange! Oh well…
MM, this film (tGTBTW) has been playing ondemand services nationwide too, or home rental services, usually for 4.99-8.99. I know when it came here a few months back in theaters it was also available on cable.
Oh and I watched his horror piece TALE OF TWO SISTERS which greatly underwhelmed me.