(Na
Hong-jin/2010/Korea)
At almost two and a half hours this is a
long haul but it works as it is
broken into four parts that become increasingly fast paced and
violent. Showing a man at low ebb, with gambling debts and an
estranged wife and daughter living with his mother, who agrees to do a
hit to clear his debt, the first part is slow, real and bleak. It’s
hard to sympathize with Gu-nam, the taxi driving main character, as it's pretty obvious the fissures in his life are of his own making.
His
trip to Korea shows the reality for many today in that area of the
world but once he’s in Korea the social commentary begins to become
secondary to the growing action and bloodletting and the plot begins to
burst at the seams in places. It all descends into a “WTF?” ending with some brilliant observational points along the way. A lot of
reviews complain of confusion with the story but it’s all there if you dig into it.
(3/5)
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