oscar jubis
04-25-2008, 12:58 AM
A DIRTY CARNIVAL
The South Korean film industry has been producing some of the best genre movies to be found anywhere. (Take police procedurals. Memories of Murder and Tell Me Something, both made in South Korea, are outstanding) This gangster film is among the most involving and exciting I've seen in recent years. And one of the most accessible. It's state-of-the-art in terms of production values and technical aspects but it's not arty like Johnnie To's Hong Kong-produced Election and Exiled. A Dirty Carnival is stylish but not stylized. The central character is a single, 29 year-old mid-level gangster who is giving advice to one high school friend planning to direct a gangster film and trying to romance another who despises violence and criminality. On the other hand, you'll find the more typical rivalries between gangs and the issues of loyalty and betrayal between gangsters aspiring to move up the ladder. What might surprise you is how smoothly and organically both "worlds" are brought together by writer/director Yoo Ha.
Here's an excerpt from the Variety review: "The best Korean gangster movie since Friend, "A Dirty Carnival" elevates the genre to an epic narrative level as it follows the rise and emotional decline of a smalltime hoodlum. Full of swiftly etched, well-developed characters and peppered with taut action sequences, pic has the kind of long-reaching dramatic span more often seen in regular dramas." I personally liked A Dirty Carnival a bit more than Friend (2001, US dvd release 2004). A Dirty Carnival is being released on dvd in the US (http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Carnival-Gweon-Tae-weon/dp/B0013D8LBI) on May 20th. Check it out and tell me what you think.
The South Korean film industry has been producing some of the best genre movies to be found anywhere. (Take police procedurals. Memories of Murder and Tell Me Something, both made in South Korea, are outstanding) This gangster film is among the most involving and exciting I've seen in recent years. And one of the most accessible. It's state-of-the-art in terms of production values and technical aspects but it's not arty like Johnnie To's Hong Kong-produced Election and Exiled. A Dirty Carnival is stylish but not stylized. The central character is a single, 29 year-old mid-level gangster who is giving advice to one high school friend planning to direct a gangster film and trying to romance another who despises violence and criminality. On the other hand, you'll find the more typical rivalries between gangs and the issues of loyalty and betrayal between gangsters aspiring to move up the ladder. What might surprise you is how smoothly and organically both "worlds" are brought together by writer/director Yoo Ha.
Here's an excerpt from the Variety review: "The best Korean gangster movie since Friend, "A Dirty Carnival" elevates the genre to an epic narrative level as it follows the rise and emotional decline of a smalltime hoodlum. Full of swiftly etched, well-developed characters and peppered with taut action sequences, pic has the kind of long-reaching dramatic span more often seen in regular dramas." I personally liked A Dirty Carnival a bit more than Friend (2001, US dvd release 2004). A Dirty Carnival is being released on dvd in the US (http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Carnival-Gweon-Tae-weon/dp/B0013D8LBI) on May 20th. Check it out and tell me what you think.