TOMB OF THE RIVER

For once, a Korean gangster picture takes us not to the message parlors, noodle bars or sinister parking garages of megacity Seoul, but to the modest coastal town of Gangneug. But don’t worry, the change in scenery doesn’t diminish the more than generous body count! The year is 2017 and the Olympic Winter Games are about to be staged in the nearby mountains. Local gangsters are hell-bent on profiting from the ensuing real-estate boom. The big boss wants to reward his faithful lieutenant Gil-seok for his long years of service and appoints him as manager of a brand new luxury casino. This move immediately sets off a round of infighting among the Taekji and Gyeongpo gangs, but it’s only when Lee Min-seok comes to town that the gloves really come off! He’s a notoriously rough fella from Seoul who has slaughtered his way to the top, with the nasty habit of making innocent folks the fall guy for his felons. And now, he has set his mind on Gil-seok’s shiny new casino…
The old-fashioned ways of the Gangneung mob are no match to a man who only sticks to one rule: there are no rules! Will Gil-seok in the inevitable confrontation be able to remain faithful to his values or is he also going to have to play dirty too? TOMB OF THE RIVER paints a fatalistic picture of the lives Korean gangsters lead, with the ever-swirling waves of the East Sea as an endlessly melancholic background.

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