This is one of my top 10 favorite films. The film has a fair amount of violence and some "uncomfortable" scenes, but you never feel that any scene is gratuitous. Each moment is part of the evolution of what it truly means to submit - to love - unconditionally. There is that moment in the film when the main actress finally allows herself to be led -- astray. A moment that may be hard for some to accept. Some have called Bad Guy misogynistic. But I think Bad Guy is quite the opposite. You might as well call the film "Breaking the waves" misogynistic. Kim Ki-Duk understands that to show a female character realistically you must be prepared to show her in all her forms, even the ones that we as women may be ashamed to admit to. What woman hasn't done something stupid and regretful for some man? How far are you willing to bend before you break to another's will for .... Love or just the possibility of love. The film Bad Guy is only a matter of degrees. You may think that as a woman you would never make the choices Sun-hwa makes in the film. But I say "Don't ever say never... because the first rule you will break will be your own"... But their is a certain amount of culpability that is shared between Han-ki and Sun-hwa in the film. A demand to lead and a willingness to be led are all that are required.
In the end this film is a love story. An unconditional love that requires you to love not in spite of your faults and weakness but because of them. Jae-hyeon Jo's performance is one of the most mesmerizing every captured on celluloid. And almost done completely without dialog. Which I didn't notice until the 3rd time in a row when I had first watched the film. It doesn't hurt that he is super sexy and easy on the eyes too. ;) The film is further enhanced by an exquisite soundtrack. Etta Scollo's "i tuoi fiori" may have been selected by chance but you would never have noticed. The film's climax is like watching a hot pan of oil just before it falls off the edge of the stove. That timeless moment of indecision - when the move to rescue becomes more dangerous than doing nothing at all.
In the end this film is a love story. An unconditional love that requires you to love not in spite of your faults and weakness but because of them. Jae-hyeon Jo's performance is one of the most mesmerizing every captured on celluloid. And almost done completely without dialog. Which I didn't notice until the 3rd time in a row when I had first watched the film. It doesn't hurt that he is super sexy and easy on the eyes too. ;) The film is further enhanced by an exquisite soundtrack. Etta Scollo's "i tuoi fiori" may have been selected by chance but you would never have noticed. The film's climax is like watching a hot pan of oil just before it falls off the edge of the stove. That timeless moment of indecision - when the move to rescue becomes more dangerous than doing nothing at all.