Monday, March 24, 2008

A Dirty Carnival


You'll never realize the worth of things unless you've lost them. It's a cliche that deserves not to be downplayed. When I was in Korea, I never really watched Korean films and telenovelas (soaps). I could watch them as streaming media or download them thru torrents. I did neither. Anyhow, last night I watched A Dirty Carnival, with subs going well. Leaving my PC turned on for 3 days, I think I totally deserve a fine download!
The story is about a gangster (변부 Byeon Du played by 조인성 Jo In Sung) who tries very hard with his fists and sashimi knife to keep his family alive. He supports his ailing mother and two siblings, both he sends to school. I don't really know about the extent of realism this movie depicts since I really don't know much about gangster culture. But one thing is for sure, there is no part of this movie that's dragging to make you wanna close VLC and chat instead. Every minute is a struggle for the gangster himself--saving his family, his relationship, his dignity. What I liked was that the ending isn't predictable. There were so many possible endings, which I guessed, but didn't really consider would happen. But it did, and it's a very haunting curtain fall for all the characters. A nuclear bomb was dropped and everyone died.
Not!

When I say it's good. It's good.
Overall rating: 9/10.