Gangnam 1970

Fans of Lee Min Ho may want to tune into this watchable violent explicit gangster movie set in the 1970s corruption world of Seoul property development. At first it may seem hard to imagine the romantic comedy drama actor in such a gritty role. But he is quite good. Kim Rae Won is better here than in more romantic roles. His face isn't right for romance. There are some out of place explicit love scenes.

Main fault is that there are too many characters. Don't like that couldn't keep straight which gangster or politician was doing what to whom. Fewer cast members would have been better. The property deals were interesting.

The fight scenes are quite real looking except the top especially funeral scene feels laughable.

I normally is a big fan of Korean crime movie, and most of movie I've watched before are quite satisfying. This one is really a amateur movie, the one I regret wasting my time watching it. First off, Lee Minho just doesn't suit to play in this role, apart form his face, who suit more to a soft character role, his acting for crime and fighting just weak. Don't do the mistake, leave the softer actor for soft character role. They are more suited to love/drama movie.

Secondly, the story just so not interesting, too many bosses at too little scene and time, I had difficulty to determine which is Jang, Yang, Hul, etc. The movie doesn't intro each of them well in the story line. They all shown up in a group, make it hard to identify the person in our mind in later scene when the name was brought up.

This is my first IMDb review, and the reason i decided to write this because I'm so disappointed for this movie.

Fight scenes are well timed and performed (as only Asian cinema can do) but the plot didn't surprise me. My six stars are for that reason.

I expected more about Lee Min Ho but there's not original at his acting: it feels like he always does it the sme way. Maybe the korean movies fans will enjoy this film (at the cast there are many known actors) but for the rest of us it's not that interesting.

This film avoids the trap of trying to make the great mob movie by flying low, and it works, it is a rich experience. I will be watching it again. The biggest similarity with the Godather is that Gangnam can evoke what it wants just through the visuals. The meaning, and meanings, of the story are interlayered in what you see and how you see it. The lighting was I thought great, I rarely do. If you've known crime, criminals, cities, politics, family, hard times this film will speak. You get a tapestry of human personalities, and the faces speak about life, choices, chances, death. Pretty violent but surprisingly gentle. I guess it is because it is all symbolic of life's struggles and of cultural changes during the 1970's. It gave me the feeling of a (the) true story of Gangnam. Novelistic. Music, A-1. Acting, too. It's the only mob movie since the Godfather which could be compared to it.

South Korea, early-1970s. The government decides to redevelop the Gangnam area south of Seoul, an area that is currently essentially a shanty town. This redevelopment will mean wealth for property owners and developers and corrupt politicians waste no time in feathering their nests. Also into this vacuum steps several criminal gangs, fighting over land, and often working on behalf of the politicians. Caught up in this is a resident of Gangnam, Jong- dae, who discovers that by joining one of the gangs he can pull himself up out of his poverty.

Had heaps of potential. There are similarities with The Godfather - the turf war, the gangster connection, the unwilling civilian who becomes a crime lord, the sweeping scale of the drama. However, that's about where the similarities end. While The Godfather was a cinematic masterpiece, Gangnam Blues is mediocre.

The biggest problem is that it is unfocused. Writer-director Ha Yoo tries to cram in too many stories and sub-plots, minimizing engagement with individual characters and making the movie overly long and padded. Focusing on the lead character and keeping detours in the plot to a minimum would have made for a much better movie.

On the plus side, the movie is quite gritty and the action scenes quite good. Reasonably entertaining, in spells.