Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

A Bittersweet Life

Original title: Dalkomhan insaeng
  • 20052005
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
40K
YOUR RATING
Lee Byung-hun and Jung-min Hwang in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
  • Action
  • Crime
  • Drama
Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't proceed by his boss's orders.Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't proceed by his boss's orders.Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't proceed by his boss's orders.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
40K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Jee-woon Kim
  • Writers
    • Dong-Cheol Kim(character created by: A Bittersweet Life)
    • Jee-woon Kim
  • Stars
    • Lee Byung-hun
    • Shin Min-a
    • Yeong-cheol Kim
Top credits
  • Director
    • Jee-woon Kim
  • Writers
    • Dong-Cheol Kim(character created by: A Bittersweet Life)
    • Jee-woon Kim
  • Stars
    • Lee Byung-hun
    • Shin Min-a
    • Yeong-cheol Kim
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 101User reviews
    • 91Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 7 wins & 6 nominations

    Photos43

    Lee Byung-hun in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun and Shin Min-a in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun and Shin Min-a in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun and Yeong-cheol Kim in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun and Yeong-cheol Kim in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Lee Byung-hun and Yeong-cheol Kim in A Bittersweet Life (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Lee Byung-hun
    Lee Byung-hun
    • Sun-wooas Sun-woo
    Shin Min-a
    Shin Min-a
    • Hee-sooas Hee-soo
    Yeong-cheol Kim
    Yeong-cheol Kim
    • Mr. Kangas Mr. Kang
    • (as Kim Young-Chul)
    Jung-min Hwang
    Jung-min Hwang
    • President Baekas President Baek
    • (as Jeong-min Hwang)
    Roe-ha Kim
    Roe-ha Kim
    • Mun-sukas Mun-suk
    Hae-gon Kim
    • Weapon smuggleras Weapon smuggler
    Eric Moon
    Eric Moon
    • Gun Dealer's Brotheras Gun Dealer's Brother
    • (as Eric)
    Dal-su Oh
    Dal-su Oh
    • Myung-guas Myung-gu
    Lee Gi-yeong
    Lee Gi-yeong
    • Mu-sungas Mu-sung
    Jin Goo
    Jin Goo
    • Min-gias Min-gi
    Yu-mi Jung
    Yu-mi Jung
    • Mi-Aeas Mi-Ae
    Tae-hee Kim
    Oh Kwang-rok
    Oh Kwang-rok
    Mu-yeong Lee
    Kim Sung-oh
    Kim Sung-oh
    • Oh Mu-sung's Subordinateas Oh Mu-sung's Subordinate
    Domashchenko Vadym
    • Russian weapon smuggleras Russian weapon smuggler
    Sang-Jeon Woo
    • Director
      • Jee-woon Kim
    • Writers
      • Dong-Cheol Kim(character created by: A Bittersweet Life)
      • Jee-woon Kim
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Man from Nowhere
    7.7
    The Man from Nowhere
    New World
    7.6
    New World
    The Chaser
    7.8
    The Chaser
    I Saw the Devil
    7.8
    I Saw the Devil
    The Good the Bad the Weird
    7.2
    The Good the Bad the Weird
    The Yellow Sea
    7.3
    The Yellow Sea
    Joint Security Area
    7.8
    Joint Security Area
    Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
    7.5
    Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
    A Tale of Two Sisters
    7.1
    A Tale of Two Sisters
    Confession of Murder
    7.0
    Confession of Murder
    Lady Vengeance
    7.5
    Lady Vengeance
    The Age of Shadows
    7.1
    The Age of Shadows

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The Korean title "Dalkomhan Insaeng" and the name of the bar "La Dolce Vita" translate to "The Sweet Life". As an ironic touch the International English title is called "A Bittersweet Life".
    • Goofs
      Toward the end of the film, when Kim Sun-woo is walking down the corridor searching for his former boss, a guard sitting and reading a newspaper gets up to stop him. Kim Sun-woo shoots him but his gun is not pointed at the guard. Rather, it is clearly pointed at the wall where fake blood appears after the shot like a paint gun.
    • Quotes

      Sun-woo: One late autumn night, the disciple awoke crying. So the master asked the disciple, "Did you have a nightmare?" "No." "Did you have a sad dream?" "No," said the disciple. "I had a sweet dream." "Then why are you crying so sadly?" The disciple wiped his tears away and quietly answered, "Because the dream I had can't come true."

    • Alternate versions
      Two versions of the film exist, the original theatrical version and the director's cut. The director's cut's edits include slight cutting and re-arrangement of scenes, swapping music placement and some additional scenes that do not appear in the original version of the film.
    • Connections
      References La dolce vita (1960)

    User reviews101

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    face-dragged-across-the-cinderblock-wall
    For director Kim Jee-woon, humor is a basic element of films. And he says no matter how dark and moody it may seem, his new film ''A Bittersweet Life (Talkomhan Insaeng)¡¯¡¯ is no exception.

    ''This movie basically deals with relationship breakups resulting from small communication breakdowns,¡¯¡¯ Kim said during a news conference Monday after the preview screening of ''A Bittersweet Life.¡¯¡¯ Without calling it comedy exactly, sometimes audiences have to laugh at very serious or ironic situations, Kim said.

    Kim has shown his unique morbid sense of humor in previous movies such as ''The Quiet Family,¡¯¡¯ a black comedy about a family who kill visitors to their cottage, ''The Foul King,¡¯¡¯ a comic drama about an amateur wrestler, and one horror contribution work for the omnibus film ''Three.¡¯¡¯ Kim is also behind ''A Tale of Two Sisters,¡¯¡¯ the psychological horror film that became a summer hit in 2003.

    ''A Bittersweet Life,¡¯¡¯ starring Lee Byung-hun from ''Everybody Has a Little Secret¡¯¡¯ and Shin Mina from ''Madeleine,¡¯¡¯ portrays the desperate and brutal revenge of Sun-woo (played by Lee) after he is expelled from his gang and comes close to being killed by his boss.

    Lee Byung-hun is a hit-man who falls for the girlfriend of his boss in the stylishly violent ¡°A Bittersweet Life.¡± Conventional ideas of causation are put into doubt in director Kim Jee-woon's twist on film noire. ''A Bittersweet Life (Talkomhan Insaeng)'' is what Korean critics are describing as ''Action Noire.'' In it, he tweaks the traditional Korean gangster story line, presenting a work with film noire undertones and stylish cinematography.

    Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) is a revenging dark angel dressed in black. Gang leader Kang (Kim Young-cheol) assigns Sun-woo, his right-hand man, to watch after his nubile girlfriend/professional cellist Hee-soo (Shin Mina) while he is away and find out about the other guy with whom he suspects she is messing around.

    The plot is complicated by Sun-woo's existential decision to stray from the explicit instructions with which he is charged. He is cryptically told time and again to make good on a promise, but he never exactly know what that is.

    Much of the action occurs in the long shadows the sprawling megapolis Seoul casts. Here, the gangsters wish they were too cool to be killed. No friend can really be trusted as the good guys are not so good and the bad guys can be down right evil. Importantly, the motivation of his tormentors is shrouded in mystery.

    But the movie has been labeled ''action noire'' for a good reason. The stylistic ultra-violence of director Kim is superb. The creepy fisherman killer represents a unique Korean twist on the classic film noire villain. Our hero is not a good, good guy either, and I loved that about him. He is not only tough, but also a stone-face killer _ a tribute to both the director and actor's character interpretation.

    After all, gangsters should fight to kill, and that means sometimes going for the knees and other joints, hitting low and dirty to take the guy out quick. In general, the fight scenes were creative. Watch for the face-dragged-across-the-cinderblock-wall scene, perhaps a first for cinematic violence.
    helpful•72
    26
    • info-2513
    • Jul 8, 2005

    FAQ1

    • What are the differences between the Theatrical Version and the Director's Cut?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 1, 2005 (South Korea)
    • Country of origin
      • South Korea
    • Languages
      • Korean
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Ngọt Đắng Cuộc Đời
    • Filming locations
      • South Korea
    • Production companies
      • CJ Entertainment
      • CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics
      • B.O.M. Film Productions Co.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $10,080,094
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital EX
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Lee Byung-hun and Jung-min Hwang in A Bittersweet Life (2005)
    Top Gap
    By what name was A Bittersweet Life (2005) officially released in Canada in French?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies Coming This Summer
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:02
    LGBTQIA+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.