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dirty carnival is about a low level gangster trying to make enough money to help his family and his gang and what he'll do to get at it.
i had no idea what this film was going to be about before i watched it, other than what the packaging implied. that would make you think this is a heavy action thriller all tight and slick.
when the movie starts however we see his group of young wannabees being somewhat goofy and nothing like professional. and while the main character is given a somewhat cool and collected almost philosophical introduction we learn quickly he's just a kid with seemingly little ambition but to make it by. his boss isn't all that convincing either until the main character, byung-du, asks him for more money. then his boss seemingly shows his ugly and violent side.
this sets up a problem for byung-du because his family is being evicted and his gang is barely eating. enter a meeting with his boss and his boss's boss, the big boss hwang.
hwang is being taken by a lawyer he wants gone. byung-du's boss chicken's out. and byung-du sees his opertunity, although he clearly doesn't have the ambition nor want to do it, he does anyways. as a result he rises to power and wealth. theres a love story in here too and byung-du's new gangster live interferes with it.
ultimately its a movie about the choices we make and as in this case becoming exactly what we hated.
its a good movie and well worth seeing. the story is deep and rich. the only thing that keeps me from giving it higher ratings is that its all over the place insofar as what kind of story it wants to be. shot somewhat loose but with action scenes that should require slick editing and choreography. it begins as what seems like it might be a comedy, is at times a love story, is on occasion an action film, and then a mafia/gangster film right down to godfather like score on occasion but thumping techno action other times, then a heartfelt social drama. maybe thats actually more realistic....i'd give it that...but as a movie it seems a bit sloppy without an overall style consistent throughout.
7/10
