Review by bobbysamadhi

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.