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What can I say, this is only the second Korean film I've ever watched and again I've been blown away by such great storytelling and directing. The first Korean film I saw just 3 weeks ago (see below - A Dirty Carnival) got me researching other Korean film and I heard A Bittersweet Life was comparable to A Dirty Carnival. While each plot can be deemed rather simple in storyline, we are brought into a world that few know exist and we go through an exciting journey throughout the harsh underworld of Korea.
I'll first start off by saying that while both A Bittersweet Life and A Dirty Carnival are "gangster flicks", they share few similarities. Although the premise is generally the same, I believe they are both contrasting masterpieces in their own right. In this film, the main character Sunwoo goes through simlar personal emotions and restraints that affect his "professional" career. The main difference is how each character from each movie interact within their own contrasting environments and situations. One example is that this movie is more realistic in the sense that guns are used through-out while ADC never really had or needed the guns to make it a gangster movie. Fight scenes are almost night and day in each film and it shows me that action sequences have no clear cut formula to be great, as long as it works well within the story. I've never witnessed actors playing conflicted characters better than these two that I've seen in the last two Korean films.
What I've enjoyed most about A Bittersweet Life is that it's completely original and honestly just much better than any other action films I have seen produced anywhere else in the world. This goes for character authenticity and great cinematography. There are always exceptions, but it's far too often now to see movies going for the storybook format and predictable storylines rather than the raw, emotional scenes I've seen in A Dirty Carnival and now A Bittersweet Life.
