Nabbeun namja (2001)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Ki-duk Kim

Writer:

Ki-duk Kim (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Trapped in a world of pleasure and pain ...

Plot:

In busy downtown Seoul, a thuggish young man notices a fresh-faced college student who sits on a bench...

Plot Keywords:

Bench | Seoul | College Student | Soldier | Loan Shark

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jae-hyeon Jo	...	Han-ki
Won Seo	...	Sun-hwa
Yun-tae Kim	...	Yun-tae
Duek-mun Choi	...	Myeong-su
Yoon-young Choi	...	Hyun-ja
Yoo-jin Shin	...	Min-jung
Jung-young Kim	...	Eun-hye
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gung-Min Nam	...	Hyun-su

Also Known As:

Bad Guy (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Norway:15 | Italy:VM18 (DVD) (self-applied) | Finland:K-18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:III

Company:

LJ Film

Soundtrack:

Blott En Dag

Extremely good film

This is an extremely good film - highly recommended. It will not be to everyone's taste, but if you are not afraid of thinking during a film then you should find plenty to take away from this one.

Bad Guy is a film based on the central premise of a relationship built between what is effectively a hostage-taker and his hostage. What transpires is a stream of abuses, power-shifts, emotional turmoil, love, hate, violence, sex, and almost every other aspect of life. This is an extremely original story, well told, with fascinating characters that are extremely human... both the good and bad sides of humanity.

The production values are very high, great acting, direction, cinematography, script, music, everything is top notch.

Typically, Korean films are very much based in real characters, social issues, and have an earthy approach that humanises their films beyond those of most countries. Bad Guy is no exception... while it is violent, confrontational, and decidedly dark, it bristles with underlying emotion and shows life without the rose coloured glasses.

The characters are at times extremely emotional, and at others almost entirely emotionally void as they struggle constantly to keep their balance in circumstances that are spiraling around them.

This is not an 'easy' film, in that it does not hand feed the viewer, there are no 'Jaws' style music queues to let you know when to be scared. You will need to work out how to feel for yourself with this one, which is fairly rare in this day and age.

As said earlier, this movie is not for everyone, however if the concept sounds like something that interests you, then you should enjoy this film. If on the other hand you don't like the idea of watching a film based on the idea of a man forcing a woman into a life of sexual servitude, then stay well away from this film.