The director Park Chan-Wook must have loved Hitchcock’s Vertigo for he has used the old master’s basic idea of a Policeman idolising a Femme fatale and has turned it into a classy, character led mystery film noir which is part elegant romance part psychological whodunnit.
It’s a class act.
Here the murder detective Hay-joon (Park Hae-il), a somber, insomniac of a character investigates the seemingly obvious suicide of a man who keeps the photos of his beaten wife on his phone.
The wife, Saoare ( a stunning Tang Wei) is interviewed by Joon who is instantly captivated by her enigmatic personality and efforts to understand the Korean language ( she is Chinese) and the film through a succession of complicated twists and turns follows their relationship, subsequent other murders and Joon’s relationship with his bemused wife
I’ve over simplified things here for the director and actors have crafted a real work of art in this movie that I can’t quite articulate adequately. Both Hae-il and Wei have a strength and an amazing presence in front of the camera and their relationship dances in front of the audience with all of the subtlety and delicacy of the beautiful and expensive sushi the pair share quietly in one pivotal scene.
It’s a cracking movie
Subtitles or dubbed into English? I hope all was well at the cottage when you arrived home?
ReplyDeleteNever EVER see a dubbed movie
DeleteSo you read captions? Doesn't that detract from the general intake of the film/ scene/ expressions etc. I know you like foreign films.
DeleteIt’s one of my rules never to see a dubbed film . You get used to reading the subtitles
DeleteYes, I've heard very good things about this film -- glad to receive your stamp of approval on it too. Am looking forward to seeing it.
ReplyDeleteIt keeps you on your toes. Don’t relax for a minute
DeleteSounds intriguing. Will look for it here.
ReplyDelete😃
DeleteKorean movies are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThat's why American studios usually eff them up by trying to come up with a Westernized version.
XOXO
This film earned a fairly rare five stars from The Observer's reviewer - Wendy Ide.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an excellent film. I've now looked for it and every single review is outstanding. It is a must see movie. Thanks for sharing your review and recommendation.
ReplyDeleteInteresting review and will look for the moviee here. so there are subtitles?
ReplyDeleteHugs!
I heard a glowing review of this film on the (Canadian) radio yesterday. I'm anxious to see it now. KarenW
ReplyDeleteYour review has really made me want to see this!
ReplyDeleteGood to know! Korean cinema is really booming these days. Korean pop culture in general, actually.
ReplyDeleteJohn I know it is a b....r but invest in cameras and hide them. They must not spoil your life, one nasty person must not win.
ReplyDeleteSounds excellent. I have watched dubbed movies and I cannot stand them. For whatever reason, just the fact that the mouth and words don't 'match' preoccupies me to the point that it is a distraction. My husband is on probably the 70th episode of a Turkish drama on netflix, and the subtitling is far less distracting to me.
ReplyDeletePS: As to Anonymous' comment, you can buy motion activated solar lighting here. It requires no wiring. You install them high up and it 'spotlights' whenever there is someone lurking about. We have them above our garage doors and house doors. Nasty people tend to stick to the shadows. But I'm going to guess that you have many neighbors suffering the same problem as you.
ReplyDeleteIf I'd read that review in a newspaper, I'd have thought, "John would enjoy that!" xx
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me to read the subtitles now but I love to hear the actors voices and how they use it
ReplyDelete