A Bittersweet Life (Dal-kom-han In-saeng) 2005

Kim Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) is a high ranking mobster and enforcer for Kang (Kim Yeong-cheol), a cold and calculating crime boss to whom he is unquestionably loyal. The two share concerns over business tensions with Baek Jr. (Hwang Jung-min), a son from a rival family, which is when Kang assigns Sun-woo what is perceived to be a simple errand while he is away on a business trip — to shadow his young mistress, Hee-soo (Shin Min-ah), whom he fears is having an affair with another man, giving Sun-woo the mandate to kill her (and her paramour) if he manages to discover it. As he performs his duty — following Hee-soo, and escorting her to a music recital one day — he becomes quietly enthralled by the girl's beauty and innocence as glimpses into his lonely, empty personal life become more prevalent. When he does come to discover Hee-soo's lover directly in her home, he fiercely beats him and prepares to inform Kang, but his attraction to her causes him to hesitate. He thus spares the two on the condition that they no longer see each other again, earning him Hee-soo's enmity. Sun-woo hopes everything will just go back to the way they were. But his decision has launched an irreversible war with the whole gang, guys who were like brothers just the day before.

Director: Kim Jee-woon

Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Kim Yeong-cheol, Hwang Jung-min

JDramaMama's Rating: A

Lee Byung-hun is one of my favorite Asian actors. Not only is he a fantastic actor but he has foregone the prevalent plastic surgery of so many South Korean actors and singers and I applaud him. He's not trying to imitate Western features, he looks Korean and he looks good! This is one of his best movies. As a high level gangster that was totally devoted to his boss, he falls from grace because of compassion he has on a young couple. Up until that time, he'd followed orders faithfully, never even daring to question them. But, this once, he couldn't find it within himself to murder an innocent girl who'd done nothing except find herself attracted to a young man of her age instead of the older criminal he worked for. He had empathy for her (and was attracted to her) and for the rest of the film he runs for his life because of it. I guess it's really true that, "no good deed goes unpunished", especially in the criminal underworld.

#SouthKorea #thriller #crime #suspense