Jopog manura

My Wife is a Gangster is unique blend of different genres; action, comedy, and drama. It's main focus is on comedy, so don't see this movie thinking it is wall to wall action. It does have a couple of great fight scenes - one in the rain, one in a field of tall grass, and one in the rival gang's hideout. The action choreography and camera work is done superbly, very stylish.

The story centers around a female JOPOK (equivalent to Yakuza in Japan). She finds her long lost sister only find she is dying of some kind of disease. Her dying wish is that she sees her sister get married before she dies. The poor unsuspecting husband, who by the way looks like Sammo Hung's Korean cousin, is put through so much tribulation through the movie, you can help but feel sorry for him!

The movie has some great comedy, which had me busting out loud. The movie also has some drama thrown in, which is done to great effect. Overall, this movie works and is unique in it's own right. 9/10

First, let me explain that I don't speak or comprehend Korean. I also watched the only available version of this film, which just happens to be with Korean audio and no subtitles. Also, my knowledge of Korean history is pretty sparse, but serves me well enough.

With the caveats aside, I enjoyed this film as well as one can without understanding any of the dialog. I agree with the other reviewers who say this film is a good mix of action, drama, and comedy. Obviously, the action translates just fine. I understood a great deal of the comedy and was surprised to be able to get most of the dramatic happenings. That said, most of the drama was lost on me, I was only able to understand the basic gist of it.

This did not stop me from enjoying the film. I was surprised at how similar this film was to a Hollywood offering. The 'wife' does action well and the closing scene was a good laugh. Maybe if I understood the dialog I would have seen it coming, but it was a funny surprise to me. The hip-hop closing credit song surprised me. Funny how flexible western culture can be. I can understand how people of other nationalities can feel they are being 'invaded' and sense a loss of their own culture. Perhaps if I watch it again, the combination of reading other's reviews and having seen it once, I would get a lot more from it.

I am just starting to get into writing reviews and look forward to doing many more.

What makes Korean comedy so great? The Koreans possess the quality of humility. They laugh at themselves: their weaknesses, their vanity, their shortcomings. They laugh at their own humanity; and thusly, overcome it; to show us something more than merely human. Maybe it is a glimpse of the divine. Best scenes: the wedding, the recitation of the American (!) author.

This is definitely one of my top 10 favorite films. I guess it's the remarkable, sweet and subtle romance that somehow is so well placed that makes it so bright/clever. I'm very impressed by how the romance is evenly mixed with comedy and still so very touching. It very much proves a light and cheerful film can be very touching which western movies should take after more (and not being either cheerful/comical or sincere/romantic). I always thought I didn't like romance at all until some rare dramas made me understand I'm just very demanding on modesty, taste and ingenuity and this film certainly has such romance that passes my level-headed taste. oh and it does have very good action (fighting) and is overall very amusing.

MWIAG is an action comedy, based I believe on a Korean comic series. The blend is biased a little towards the comedy side, but what quantity the action might like is more than made up for by quality.

Backdrop: Cha Eun-Jin has been raised as a Jopog (gangster) since childhood, and has risen through the ranks to 'Big Brother', no. 2 in the organisation. She also happens to be a female, but this is a detail that is largely considered to be irrelevant - especially by her. She's smart, confident, ruthless, and as luck would have it a fantastic fighter. The movie begins with a fight, filmed in the rain with dark shadows and slow motion creating a very artful effect. Two gangster are up against a group of many, and about to get killed when their savior appears - Eun-Jin silhouetted against the light looking full on comic-book cool before she somersaults into the ground and spins, kicks, twists, rolls and slashes her way through all comers. The dark lighting, rain and camerawork create a wonderful look and mood for this, and the choreography is easily up to anything Hong Kong has offered us for years. Short, but very sweet.

Eun-Jin would possibly carry on like this happily for the rest of her life, but the discovery of her sister whom she hasn't seen since childhood introduces new complexity. Her sister has cancer, and may not live much longer. Her one wish is to see Eun-Jin get married before she dies.

Eun-Jin's sudden need to address her feminine side, and the fact that she wants the husband she chooses to remain unaware of her profession, is the basic dynamic from which any number of comic situations are derived. The transplanting of her gangster persona & gangster cronies into totally non-gangster circumstances is a cool 'fish out of water' scenario, and very effectively spoofs the gangster attitudes and conventions.

The main backbone of the movie, as with most strong movies, is the characters. Eun-Jin is a wonderful character, and the performance by Shin Eun-Gyeong is absolutely spot on. Tough, cool, mean and thoroughly hilarious. The supporting cast are all just as well developed too.

The movie is paced quite gently, shifting from amusing situation to amusing situation without feeling the need to hurry the plot along too fast. Action scenes break out quite frequently, but there is a marked difference between the 3 scenes in which Eun-Jin fights (beginning, middle and end) and the remainder of the action. Her men, the thugs, fight street - grappling, stumbling, beating with whatever they can reach. Sometimes this is played for laughs, sometimes not. Realistic, but not massively exciting. When Eun-Jin fights however... it is a thing of beauty. Clearly modelled on HK action, with a little Samurai thrown in too, these scenes are amazingly choreographed and filmed. Between this and Bichunmoo (which MWIAG easily surpasses), and hopefully Musa when it arrives, it looks like Korea is making a very strong bid for Hong Kong's action crown.

If you buy the movie just for the action, doubtless you'll love it - but really it's not the strongest part of the movie. The characters, the performances and the humour are all equally well developed and fill more screen time. If you buy it for these... doubtless you will love it also. Can't really lose out on this one in fact :)