Revenge flick with a bittersweet twist, perhaps remarkable for South Korean cinema but fairly average by US/Hollywood standards. It's a crime/drama/thriller; although it depicts some rather gruesome murders, it's not horror.
The story starts with the lead character being Hae-won, a beautiful woman from the big city who returns to the remote fishing island where she used to visit her grandfather. There she reconnects with Bok-nam, a childhood friend who has lived on the island her whole life. The story quickly refocuses on Bok-nam and the oppressive living conditions she's forced into by the handful of villagers still living on the island. Since childhood, Bok-nam has pleaded with Hae-won to take her away from this place, but rather than help, Hae-won looks the other way.
Like a revenge film, the tables turn halfway through the story. This movie is long, taking a long time to set up how Bok-nam suffers and how Hae-won ignores it. At the turning point, the story could go in a couple of directions, but chooses the most conventional one. The editing is somewhat hard to follow, often making me wonder if I'd missed a scene but later realizing that perhaps not.
Not a bad film, decently done, but average.
The story starts with the lead character being Hae-won, a beautiful woman from the big city who returns to the remote fishing island where she used to visit her grandfather. There she reconnects with Bok-nam, a childhood friend who has lived on the island her whole life. The story quickly refocuses on Bok-nam and the oppressive living conditions she's forced into by the handful of villagers still living on the island. Since childhood, Bok-nam has pleaded with Hae-won to take her away from this place, but rather than help, Hae-won looks the other way.
Like a revenge film, the tables turn halfway through the story. This movie is long, taking a long time to set up how Bok-nam suffers and how Hae-won ignores it. At the turning point, the story could go in a couple of directions, but chooses the most conventional one. The editing is somewhat hard to follow, often making me wonder if I'd missed a scene but later realizing that perhaps not.
Not a bad film, decently done, but average.