Princesa Aurora

A pretty good South Korean thriller, although not quite up there with the likes of THE CHASER or MEMORIES OF MURDER. PRINCESS AURORA sees the inimitable Eom Jeong-hwa as a wronged mother who sets out on a seemingly random massacre of people who offend her, and of course the police are hot on her trail.

I find these Korean police procedural films to be typically gripping and PRINCESS AURORA is no exception. I loved the mystery aspect of the storyline, which gradually unfolds towards crystal clarity at the climax, even though I did easily guess the twist ending this time around. The film is also interspersed with those stark, gruesome set-pieces that the Koreans portray so well.

The acting is excellent and complements the script well, and the only reason I haven't given this a higher rating is because the subject matter is so dark. It's ultimately a very sad and depressing movie, but that doesn't stop it from being decent; it's just not one of those films that screams entertainment value at you.

I've watch a lot of korean stuff and this one is so cliché and boring, ruthless murder and the stupid cop. Story looks really really dumb, we know if this thing happen in our real world all police will catch the murderer instantly because the crime she did is not smart at all. Took a very long time to catch a stupid killer. Then, I guess all korean people are really heartless to ignore an innocent child who walking around the city and highway. This movie is so overrated, just credit for all actor because they are acting very well but the story is really dumb. I've watch too many korean movie to like this, better watch "Memories Of Murder" again and again.

But not the best that has been produced in that land. If your looking for the revenge master, look no further than "Park Chan-Wook" (or you can put the Park at the end, like it's done in Korea) and you'll get the best!

Having said that, the story presented here is not bad. Not bad at all and the acting is quite good also. But the pacing, the rhythm and the overall flair of this movie, never quite feels right. The script could've used a few rewrites and I'm pretty sure, there could've been a few better fleshed out characters. But this still is very emotional and you might not like what you see, especially concerning the ending (and yes the last sentence is intended to be understood in more than one way!)!

I have seen the 2005 South Korean movie "Orora Gongju" (aka "Princess Aurora") once before, though I have to admit that I have entirely forgotten about the movie's storyline. And thus, as I had the opportunity to watch it again here in 2023, of course I did so.

And having just sat through 106 minutes of this, I realize now that there was a reason for why I had forgotten about this movie, because it just wasn't a particularly good movie. The storyline in "Orora Gongju", as written by Pang Eun-Jin and Min-Hui Seo, started out quite good and the movie was rather enjoyable, right up to about halfway through, then the narrative went crashing downhill fast and the movie lost all momentum and became quite an insufferable drag to sit through.

The acting performances in "Orora Gongju" were good, despite the fact that the actors and actresses didn't have a fully wholesome script to work with.

Visually then "Orora Gongju" was not overly impressive. There were some watchable violence scenes to spruce up the ordeal, but that was about it.

Ultimately, then director Pang Eun-Jin didn't manage to bedazzle me with this 2005 movie. And having revisited it now, and gotten its narrative refreshed, I can honestly say that I am not returning to watch the movie again. Nor is it a movie that I will recommend for fans of the South Korean cinema to rush out and get to watch, if you haven't already seen it.

My rating of "Orora Gongju" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

For those of you that like the amount of cruelty and bloodshed in Lady Vengeance, this film will seem subtle.

The acting of the female lead is convincing enough to warrant the 106 minutes of it.

At first, the movie seemingly revolves around a young woman who kills mercilessly for justice. However, as the story continues, her actions became methodical and preempted. Only at the very end of the story do we actually get to know the angst, grief and pain that forced her into such a state of mind.

This movie, although Korean, also reflects on the other Asian societies where wealth, materialism and self-centredness are overshadowing the importance of kindness and virtue.