Sai Yoichi back in Korea

[Todd Brown]

It?s a pretty bad film, by far the worst that I?ve seen from him.  Rumor
is there was a lot of conflict on the set, interference from the studio etc
and Sai very nearly walked off.

 

Todd.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Brown [mailto:ryuganji at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 8:01 PM
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: Sai Yoichi back in Korea

 

Twitch weren't so complimentary about it:

http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/010242.html

Don Brown
www.ryuganji.net  <http://www.ryuganji.net> 

2007/6/6, Stefan Nutz <nuzumaki at gmx.net>:

For those on the list, like me 5 minutes ago, who haven't heard anything of
a new Sai Yoichi film, here some information. I was a little

surprised that he is now back in Korea making movies. His new one is called
"Soo" (Su, ?) and Sai, or better Choi Han-il 

(also credited as Choi Yang-il), did the screenplay as well. It will be
interesting to see how Sai's career will develope in the upcoming

years - in case he stays in Korea. 

 

Synopsis:
Soo is in the business of solving problems. When his brother Tae-jin is
killed by a gang, he takes his brother's identity to seek revenge.
Source  <http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr> http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr

 

More information:

http://www.hancinema.net/korean_movie_Soo.php

 

 

It's bloody and brutal, and harrowingly so. Japanese-born Korean director
Choi Yang-il (Yoichi Sai) brings the Korean audience 

a hardboiled vengeance film with a slightly different flavor. When you
think of blood-splattered retaliation, Park Chan-wook's vengeance 

trilogy or Quentin Tarantino's ``Kill Bill'' series may come to mind. But
imagine such a film stripped of fancy cinematographic techniques 

and devoid of stylishly choreographed action sequences. Every gesture and
grimace is meticulously planned, according to the director.
But Choi keeps the camera at a certain distance to portray the no-cut
skirmishes. The product is heightened realism, and you believe in the 

brutal violence and the raw human instinct for survival. Tae-su (Ji Jin-
hee) is a notorious hit man called Soo, who waits 19 years to finally 

reunite with his long-lost twin brother Tae-jin _ only to watch him get
shot in front of his very eyes. Revenge becomes Soo's sole reason for 

breathing, as he single-handedly sets out to hunt down his brother's
murderer. Here, the movie slips into major traps of common plot 

elements: identical twins the striking opposite of each other _ one good,
the other bad _ and the woman that falls in love with both of them. 
If you're craving something purely ``hardboiled,'' think again. There is a
unique combination of raw and primitive crudeness and 

unexpected tenderness to the movie, however. Knives take the place of guns,
the usual choice of weapon in contemporary action films, 

and Soo embodies all the animalistic human instinct for survival and
safety. In a desperate struggle to stay alive, Soo unhesitatingly 

scoops out an enemy's eyeballs with his bare hands.  But Soo degenerates
from a cool-headed and merciless professional killer into 

a helpless, guilt-ridden brother. Tae-su sports a sharp dagger to slash
dozens of lives, but it ceases to be a weapon when he falls 

asleep with it in his dead brother's bed. It is a material extension of a
vengeful yet shattered and lonely soul 
There are in fact moments when you forget the protagonist is a callous and
an unfeeling killer. Soo is quiet and reserved when not on 

duty, and is obedient in front of his boss, a fatherly figure. Soo draws
sympathy from viewers as he embraces his dead brother's body _ 

it's chilling as you see two identical faces, one lifeless and the other
helpless. Monologues addressed to Tae-jin throughout the movie 

mark Tae-su's tragic humaneness. There is also a comically surreal
dimension to his undying persistence. Attacked by bullets, clubs, 

swords and hatchets, he manages to keep surviving. You stop grimacing at
the insensitive brutality past a certain point. 
Source: www. <http://www.dvdasian.com>  dvdasian.com

 

 

best,

 

Stefan 
 <http://www.pageofmadness.com> www.pageofmadness.com 




-- 
Don Brown
www.ryuganji.net 

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