Dalkomhan insaeng (2005)

Director:

Ji-woon Kim

Writer:

Ji-woon Kim (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Music

Tagline:

When doing right goes very, very wrong.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Shot In The Head | Stabbed | Public Bathroom | Hitman | Business

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeong-min Hwang	...	President Baek
Yu-mi Jeong
Ku Jin	...	Min-gi
Hae-gon Kim	...	Weapon smuggler
Roe-ha Kim	...	Mun-suk
Yeong-cheol Kim	...	Mr. Kang (as Kim Young-Chul)
Byung-hun Lee	...	Sun-woo
Gi-yeong Lee	...	Mu-sung
Mu-yeong Lee
Eric Moon	...	Gun Dealer's Brother (as Eric)
Dal-su Oh	...	Myung-gu
Kwang-rok Oh
Min-a Shin	...	Hee-soo
Sang-Jeon Woo

Also Known As:

A Bittersweet Life (International: English title)

Runtime:

120 min | Argentina:120 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Taiwan:R-18 | UK:18 | Ireland:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:18 | Germany:18 | Australia:MA | France:-12 (with warning) | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-18 | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18 | Japan:R-15

Filming Locations:

South Korea

Company:

B.O.M. Film Productions Co.

Trivia:

The Korean title "Dalkomhan Insaeng" and the name of the bar "La Dolce Vita" translate to "The Sweet Life". As an ironic touch the International English title is called "A Bittersweet Life".

Quotes:

Sun-woo: Send them away. I have no reason to talk with him.
Mun-suk: C'mon Sun-woo, President Baek is my guest, show some courtesy.
Sun-woo: No, i don't care about courtesy.
Mun-suk: Don't do this to me, you may do this at your own club. Show me some respect.
Sun-woo: To you? You're kidding.

Movie Connections:

References Taxi Driver (1976)

A truly excellent movie!

I had the opportunity to watch this brilliant movie at home, while translating it from English to Greek for the viewers of the Thessaloniki Film Festival in November, 2005.

I was impressed by the stunning performance of the leading actor, as well as of the other actors. The music of the film was also wisely selected.

Some -few- funny moments in the film help the viewer lighten up and get ready for what I saw as brilliantly directed fighting scenes, that neither bored me nor made me look away.

At the end of the film, when the desciple was crying for "a dream that can never come true" I was absolutely sure that what I saw was nothing less than a true work of art.