Dirty carnival

I'd heard a lot about this film, so I was a little surprised by the overall tone, which I felt wasn't very realistic.

The film follows a sub-commander-type gangster who starves under his immediate superior whilst he looks for the opportunity to prove the worth of himself and his men, as well as keep his actual family with a roof over their heads. That opportunity eventually arrives, but it leads to mistrust and dog learns to eat dog, which is about all I can say without ruining the plot.

A lot of users here have commented on the acting being great - and it really is! The fights are excellent (even though most men would be dead if hit with a baseball bat repeatedly to their unprotected chest - NOT a spoiler), and the flow of the story comes naturally. Wow, what's not to love, right?

Unfortunately, the film just cannot decide if it's a fanciful drama glamorising gangsters or a serious characterisation. The romance between the beautiful childhood friend and the lead lacks any kind of spark and it's not until the gangsters are scaring normal people out of their homes for the sake of their boss' stake in a housing development project that we realise they are actually supposed to be nasty people, which, until then, only seemed to be their opposition.

Overall then, A Dirty Carnival is an enjoyable enough flick, but there are better gangster films in both the Asian and Western world and given that the director couldn't seem to decide in what light to make the film, it's impossible to rate it any higher.

Let me say one thing. I give it 10 just for the apt realistic ending it is. It is not what I liked one little bit but then I give it to the director for catching us off-guard but this is a South Korean movie and this is EXACTLY what I expect from them - a twist that knocks everyone out. This is good. This is what I look for in a South Korean movie - something different from the usual "Hollywood Crafted Endings" - which I feel most of the time implanted into the movie. I saw the film yesterday night and it was running in my mind every time I woke up in sleep. I never thought that this would have such an impact on me.

About the story - this is a gangster film with lots of great violent fights - I thought initially that those fights reflected the title ...until the ending and then I felt the whole movie was like a gangster carnival.

See the movie - this will hit you...

Since I have not heard about this film before it was broadcast on the Sundance Channel, I had no expectations. This is a very good to almost excellent film about gangster life in South Korea. It features In-sung Zo in a terrific performance as low level gangster Byong-doo. He meets up with an old friend Min-ho, who is a filmmaker and picks Byong-doo's brains about being a gangster. It spirals from there, as Byong-doo gets more ruthless and violent in his quest for more money and especially power. He also meets up with another old classmate. the pretty Hyun-joo (Bo-yong Lee) and that relationship develops slowly. There is some violence in this, but if you like gangster films I liked this as much as Goodfellas. Really, it is that absorbing and highly recommended.

The movie is bittersweet, reminding me of "Blow" and "Casino". I refuse to say that it is the Asian counterpart of the above-mentioned movies because I think that does not do Yoo Ha or In-Seong Cho justice.

The cast acted as though each role was made just for them and the accordion laced soundtrack simply added to the irony and hard, cold truth of the subject matter.

But most of the kudos have to go to In-Seong Cho, for letting viewers live through his character (Byung-Doo). Whether it's laughing at his karaoke rendition in the car and club.; his intense, awkward yet realistic fighting skills or the boyish charms oozing when he sees the woman he loves ~ if I knew nothing of the actor I would have thought he was cast to play himself.

It is extremely well done so just watch it and find out for yourself!

A good movie which shown Karma , Love , Brotherhood and Family. "You can never understand other person, dont trust them". LIFE IS YING YANG 69.