A BITTERSWEET LIFE

Sun-woo is no ordinary hotel manager. Quick-thinking and efficient, he’s also the right hand man of underworld boss Kang. But tough guy Kang has a weakness : his young girlfriend Hee-soo. Suspecting she’s unfaithful, jealous Kang orders obedient Sun-woo to take care of the problem. Bet when the hitman finds Hee-soo with another man, he hesitates at the last moment and offers to hush the affair up if the guy disappears forever. Unfortunately, Kang finds out and furiously and swiftly sends his gang members after Sun-woo, plunging him into a living hell. With nerves of steel, Sun-woo battles the gang alone. With each kill, he takes one step closer to Kang. After snatching our 2003 Silver Raven with the psycho-horror of A Tale of Two Sisters, Jee-woon Kim (The Quiet Family, The Foul King) raises the bar on movie violence to another innovative level beyond Old Boy with A Bittersweet Life. This moody package of beautifully shot ballistic bedlam is anchored by the performance of Byung-hun Lee’s (Joint Security Area, Three Extremes, 3-Iron) tightly controlled performance as the assassin who‘ll go all the way to defend a moment of beauty in his loveless life. With its hard-bitten visual style, all rain and shadowy angles, and immaculate production values, this brutal masterpiece will have genre fans nailed to their seats.