This is a jaw-droppingly bizarre movie from Korea that mixes scenes of gruesome torture and violence with comedy and heartbreaking profundity. Perhaps as a result of too many amphetamines and violent incidents in his past, beekeeper Lee Byeong Gu (Sin Ha-Gyun) has become convinced that an unscrupulous business tycoon (Kan Man-.. Read more
| Starring | Shin Ha-Kyun, Paek Yun-Sik, Hwang Jeong-Min |
|---|---|
| Director | Jang Jun-Hwan |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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This is a jaw-droppingly bizarre movie from Korea that mixes scenes of gruesome torture and violence with comedy and heartbreaking profundity. Perhaps as a result of too many amphetamines and violent incidents in his past, beekeeper Lee Byeong Gu (Sin Ha-Gyun) has become convinced that an unscrupulous business tycoon (Kan Man-Shik) is actually an alien from the planet Andromeda. Lee's frumpy acrobat girlfriend (Hwang Jung-Min) helps him abduct the 'alien' and torture him into confessing. Meanwhile, a hangdog detective is following a trail leading to Lee's hideout high in the mountains. Let the timid be warned: this is not the antipollution comedy that the title might indicate. Man's inhumanity to man is certainly depicted--as in events like Korea's 1980 Kwangju riots--but there's more going on here than any one summation could describe: bees attack, a pet dog named Earth dines on human remains, alternate theories of evolution are posited (ie Noah's Ark was a deep submarine carrying DNA samples); an entire lifetime of films, political turmoil, anime and manga are boiled down and distilled into one profound, multi-textual allegory. Adventurous viewers will be in for one hell of a ride, as this film dares go where few have gone before, yet it does so with heart and intellect to match its wicked humor and headlong momentum.
| Starring | Shin Ha-Kyun, Paek Yun-Sik, Hwang Jeong-Min |
|---|---|
| Director | Jang Jun-Hwan |
| Studio | PALISADES TARTAN |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 53 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | Korean |
| Subtitles | English |
| Released | DVD: 21 Mar 2005 Production year: 2003 |
| Format | DVD |
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Although it adopts a magpie approach to its visuals and plumps for a plot twist that undoes much of its early good work, Jang Jun-hwan's ambitious debut is still a crafty combination of offbeat comedy, B-movie sci-fi and macabre thriller. Shin Ha-gyun (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance) excels as the movie-mad crank whose conviction that Earth is about to be invaded by aliens from Andromeda prompts him and his trapeze-artist girlfriend to kidnap industrial tycoon Baek Yun-shik. But, as eccentric cop Lee Jae-yong begins to investigate the abduction, an alternative motive for Shin's actions emerges and the tone becomes increasingly sombre — right up to the disappointingly extravagant denouement.
Jang's debut feature is a dark comedy which takes pain and madness seriously and asks the viewer to empathise with a... read more on Time Out
What a film! This is a funny, crazy, harrowing and intense film from Korea about the local nut who is convinced that his rich ex-boss is an alien planning to destroy 'the green planet' Earth. It's therefore up to him to save it.
The film goes at a mental rate and there are loads of plot twists that are both believable but bewildering. I saw it and it shot up into my top ten film list along with Old Boy and A Tale Of Two Sisters, all 3 from Korea but very different films. I'd recommend to horror/sci-fi/serial killer nuts as well as anyone that appreciates original, thought provoking stuff.
first 20 minutes quite normal , but persevere and you will enjoy a treat of a film. Better than anything hollywood can come up with A magically unexpected collision of ideas Tarintino couldn't even dream of pulling off but is executed here with consummate ease keeps you on the edge off your seat till the very end and with quite a few belly laughs too!