A Bittersweet Life (2005)

Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't proceed by his boss's orders.

Director:

Jee-woon Kim (as Kim Jee-woon)

Writers:

Dong-Cheol Kim (character created by: A Bittersweet Life), Jee-woon Kim (as Kim Jee-woon)

Stars:

Lee Byung-Hun, Shin Min-a, Yeong-cheol Kim

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Lee Byung-Hun	...	Sun-woo
Shin Min-a	...	Hee-soo
Yeong-cheol Kim	...	Mr. Kang (as Kim Young-Chul)
Jung-min Hwang	...	President Baek (as Jeong-min Hwang)
Roe-ha Kim	...	Mun-suk
Hae-gon Kim	...	Weapon smuggler
Eric Moon	...	Gun Dealer's Brother (as Eric)
Dal-su Oh	...	Myung-gu
Lee Gi-yeong	...	Mu-sung
Jin Goo	...	Min-gi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yu-mi Jung	...	Mi-Ae
Seong-oh Kim	...	Oh Mu-sung's Subordinate
Tae-hee Kim
Oh Kwang-rok
Mu-yeong Lee

Storyline

Things go wrong for a high ranking mobster when he doesn't proceed by his boss's orders.

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Plot Keywords:

south korea | anti hero | gangster | crime boss | shootout | 

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Taglines:

When doing right goes very, very wrong.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Byung-Hun Lee and Ku Jin previously starred together in a show All In (2003). Ku Jin played the younger version of Byung-Hun's character.

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Goofs

At 1h and 26 min., the weapon smuggler breathes after being shot and killed by Sun-woo. This mistake is also very revealing at 1 h and 28 min.

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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."

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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.

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Connections

Remade as Awarapan (2007)

User Reviews

The coolest movie I have ever seen

This is my first review on here, only because I felt compelled to tell someone about this film… When I say "coolest," I don't mean it in a that-movie-was-really-cool kind of way… Coolest, in this case, means that it is the smoothest, well-crafted, stylish, and beautiful films I have ever seen. Everything about the film has a you'll-never-be-this-cool feel, like Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction. Not to mention the fact that it has the same sort of humor.

Now, I am a film student who has actually gotten a lot of praise from students and teachers and whatnot for my first film project… That's great and all, but after seeing this film I am reminded of what Steven Spielberg said after he saw The Godfather; "I guess I should quit now, because I will never make something this good." I am, in no way, comparing myself to Spielberg, I'm just describing the feeling of, "holy s***, this is amazing," and "wow, I could never do this ever…"

See this movie before you die… Or before it gets remade.

Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean Russian

Release Date:

1 April 2005 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

A Bittersweet Life

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,080,094

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, CJ E&M Film Financing & Investment Entertainment & Comics, B.O.M. Film Productions Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1