appletree
Joined Feb 2002
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appletree's rating
I consider this movie a masterpiece. The performance of Marcello Mastroianni is simply sublime, one of the best I have ever seen from anyone, anywhere. Yes, the surface plot is about adultery, but the story is much more than that. I think this is a story about a man, an old man near the end of his life, looking back on his playboy, vagabond, good-for-nothing life, regretting it, but not knowing any other way to live. "Mother's lullaby and the Russian mist" is all he remembers about his own life, he says. Watch this old man cry, and it stirs you with all kinds of emotions and thoughts, makes you think about how you should live, that tragedy happens everyday, to every small man who must fend for himself and fail. You tell yourself you will never be like him, you pity him, disrespect him, despise him, but in the end you understand this man in the most profound sense. And you will never be able to forget that Russian mist either. Superb.
This movie is the newest success of the rising Korean film industry. It's got drama, plot, action, emotions, and nice acting all rolled into one, on the background of a fantastical assumption on a twist of real history.
Note on the title. The setting is the year 2009, and the film is based on the assumption that Korea is still a colony of Japan, as it had been for the past 100 years, because a single assassination attempt back in 1909, which succeeded in real life, failed and changed the whole course of history for the past 100 years in this alternative story. A Korean-born special agent tries to set the history right, and his colleague, a Japanese-born and a friend of his, tries to stop him.
Although made in Korea, dialogues are about 70% Japanese, and you have to have some knowledge in the history of the two countries to fully understand this movie, but the setting and basis is very imaginative and fascinating, that anybody can appreciate it. The two stars of the movie, Dong-Kun Jang and Toru Nakamura, who are Korean and Japanese in real life, are very fine, and make up a nice team. The action scenes, which are plenty in this movie, are nicely choreographed and serve to contribute to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The Korean film industry is growing, so the next time you catch a Korean movie, it could be this one!
Note on the title. The setting is the year 2009, and the film is based on the assumption that Korea is still a colony of Japan, as it had been for the past 100 years, because a single assassination attempt back in 1909, which succeeded in real life, failed and changed the whole course of history for the past 100 years in this alternative story. A Korean-born special agent tries to set the history right, and his colleague, a Japanese-born and a friend of his, tries to stop him.
Although made in Korea, dialogues are about 70% Japanese, and you have to have some knowledge in the history of the two countries to fully understand this movie, but the setting and basis is very imaginative and fascinating, that anybody can appreciate it. The two stars of the movie, Dong-Kun Jang and Toru Nakamura, who are Korean and Japanese in real life, are very fine, and make up a nice team. The action scenes, which are plenty in this movie, are nicely choreographed and serve to contribute to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The Korean film industry is growing, so the next time you catch a Korean movie, it could be this one!