Sin-ui hansu

This is a must-see movie. There's never been any other movie like this before.

The main line through this movie is the board game Go (also known as igo in Japan, weiqi in China or baduk in Korea). Go is a mind game and it may come to a surprise that this movie is so violent. However that's exactly what makes this movie so brilliant.

You can feel that the person who wrote the script of this movie is somebody who loves the game of Go. The movie perfectly respects the spirit of the game: the aggression, creativity, scheming, ...

As for people who are not interested in the board game at all. You will not be disappointed neither. Top actors, an exciting script, humor and blood. What more could you possibly want ?

A professional Go player is asked by his brother to help him win a rigged, high-stakes underground match and things go bad quickly.

Sent to prison (I'm still not quite sure why), the humble Go player uses his skills to win favours from the gambling warden, and he soon uses those favours in exchange for fight training, so that he can become an absolute killing machine when he gets out! Yeah, it all sounds pretty dumb but it's a film, so carry on...

Having served his time, our Go master - now a kung fu-fighting master to boot - doesn't waste time in tracking down the men who killed his brother and swiftly exacts revenge on one... it's then that the tone of the film changes, taking a potential 8 star flick down a couple of notches.

See, so far the tone had been very dark and gritty, but the Go player opts to put a team together, woo the hot chick who plays secretly for the gangsters and the realism really goes out of the window. Had it either been somewhat lighter from the beginning or stayed bleak, this could have been really great, but with the tone hovering from this point onwards between the white-toothed smiles and happy endings of Hollywood-type films, and classic, gritty revenge thrillers, I was never quite sure what I was watching... but that doesn't mean to say it's a bad film, as I did enjoy it (it just could have been a lot better).

I'll admit though: I've never played Go and dismissed it as just an Asian version of draughts (checkers, to Americans), but the love for the game is clear in this film and might just change a few people's preconceptions. That said, please do NOT read this as being a sports film, because Go is just the unique backdrop that this unbalanced thriller has to separate it from the pack.

This film is based around the game of Go (Baduk). Go is considered to be one of, if not the hardest board game to play. It is also considered the oldest board game having originated in China approximately 2500 years ago. Go is a strategic game which requires great focus and presence of mind to capture your opponent. The game is still extremely popular and in this film it is played with high stakes.

The main character is a professional player and when asked by his brother to help him win a game, things go terribly wrong, his brother is murdered and he ends up in prison. While in prison, he makes fast friends with a mob boss by winning a game against the warden in which the mob boss gets a request granted. He asked the mobster to return him the favor by having his henchmen train him to skillfully fight so that when he leaves prison he can avenge his brother's death. That is the plot of the movie.

I don't really know much about the game of Go but the folks in this film have made the game a building stone of their criminal enterprise. There is a lot of money, talent and blood wrapped up in this game. Some of the characters are like or dislikeable enough but I think that the film could have benefited from more character building. The action sequences were the highlight. They were quick, well shot and fairly brutal keeping you on the edge of your seat.

It is a decent film. Check it out if you are looking for a bit of action.

Could've been another title, though I did watch it under "Divine Move" at a Festival. While I have no clue how to play (or better the rules of) Baduk, the movie was still very appealing. It also achieves to make the game interesting many times. We have a lot of games that have to be covered over the duration of the movie and each one of them is shot differently and shown in a different light, depending on where the story and characters are at the moment.

But it's not a "sports" movie about a board game. It's also an action movie and those scenes are more than well choreographed! The movie is action packed and it has moments in it, that you might not expect. Not sure how the ending will go down with some, but I like the movie for not going the easy way ...

You have a board of "Go", some dirty tricks and some cowards. You found an underground gambling squad, commited some crimes and then revenge will bite you soon. This revenge theme is so played out so the plot is predictable. The presentation is what matters in this film. It lives up to the expectations. This kind of film is worth giving a try on your Sundays. My title says it's much better than Hollywood flicks of the same theme and yes you read it right. Hollywood has become repetitive and cringeworthy when it comes to this kind of movies.