A Bittersweet Life

A Bittersweet Life
A Bittersweet Life

Theatrical poster
Hangul 달콤한 인생
Hanja 달콤한
RR Dalkomhan insaeng
MR Talk‘omhan insaeng
Directed by Kim Ji-woon
Produced by Park Dong-ho
Eugene Lee
Written by Kim Ji-woon
Starring Lee Byung-hun
Kim Yeong-cheol
Shin Min-ah
Hwang Jung-min
Kim Roe-ha
Lee Gi-yeong
Music by Jang Yeong-gyu
Dalparan
Cinematography Kim Ji-yong
Editing by Choi Jae-geun
Distributed by CJ Entertainment
Release date(s) April 1, 2005 (2005-04-01) (South Korea)
Running time 120 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean, Russian
Admissions 1,291,621

A Bittersweet Life (Dalkomhan insaeng) (Hangul: 달콤한 인생) is a 2005 South Korean film directed and written by Kim Ji-woon and starring Lee Byung-hun. Ruthlessly violent, it illustrates the ethical codes in the Korean mob and how they clash with personal morality.

The film premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Contents

Plot

Kim Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by Kang (Kim Yeong-cheol), a cold and calculating crime boss to whom he is unquestionably loyal. The two share concerns over business tensions with Baek Jr. (Hwang Jung-min), a son from a rival family, which is when Kang assigns Sun-Woo what is perceived to be a simple errand while he is away on a business trip — to shadow his young mistress, Heesoo (Shin Min-ah), whom he fears is having an "affair" with another man, giving Sun-Woo the mandate to kill her (and her paramour) if he manages to discover it. As he performs his duty — following Heesoo, and escorting her to a music recital one day — he becomes quietly enthralled by the girl's beauty and innocence as glimpses into his lonely, empty personal life become more prevalent. When he does come to discover Heesoo's lover directly in her home, he fiercely beats him and prepares to inform Kang, but his attraction for her causes him to hesitate. He thus spares the two on the condition that they no longer see each other again, earning him Heesoo's enmity.

Meanwhile, Sun-woo continues to be embroiled in personal business with Baek Jr. over having beaten up several of his henchmen earlier for overstaying their welcome at the hotel. He is then threatened by one of his enforcers to apologize, but he adamantly refuses, fueled by his frustrations over Heesoo. As he relaxes in his apartment later one night, he is suddenly kidnapped by Baek's men to be tortured, but before they can do so they receive new orders via phone call and he is abruptly carried off to Kang, who has returned from overseas and has found out about his attempted cover-up of Heesoo's affair. Kang's men torture him into confessing why he lied until he is left alone to think about his answer. A daring but messy escape follows, after which Sun-woo plans his revenge.

Help from one of Sun-woo's loyal co-workers provides him with money and new clothes to go about his plan: he secretly delivers Heesoo a gift to make amends and sets up a meeting with some local arms dealers, but as they are affiliated with Kang's organization he ends up killing them over a deal to buy a handgun — this incurs a vendetta with the brother of one of the dealers, who promptly sets out to find Sun-woo. He then goes on to set up a veiled rendezvous with Baek Jr. and kills him after a brief conversation, but he is viciously stabbed in the process. Bleeding, his violent shooting spree leads directly to Kang amidst one of his business meetings, where he vents bitterly over how badly he has been treated despite his seven years of service. Kang does not answer, and instead tries to subtly empathize. Sun-woo then shoots him, prompting a shootout with Baek Jr.'s henchmen, who had quickly picked up his trail.

Sun-Woo emerges as the only survivor of the battle with the arms dealer's brother finally catching up to him in the same room. Now dying from multiple gunshot wounds,he calls Heesoo and pauses to reminisce on his only day with Heesoo, when he had escorted her to her music recital; in his memory, as he watches her play her cello he finds himself overwhelmed with emotion and, in a rare moment of contentment, he smiles. As he sheds a tear over this memory, the brother of the arms dealer executes him.

The film ends with a continuation of an earlier scene of Sun-Woo looking out of a window at the city below him. After making sure he's alone, he begins to shadowbox his reflection in the glass, looking very happy.

Cast

Box office and critical reception

The film was screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Critical reception was highly positive, with critics describing it as "organic, essential, beautifully staged and refreshingly realistic."[2] Derek Elley from Variety magazine described the film as "a tour de force of noirish style and Korean ultra-violence that will have genre fans nailed to their seats." [3]Sam Toy from Empire magazine stated Lee "puts in a star-making performance as the brutal chief whip-turned-fugitive, never overplaying what could easily become hammy and clichéd, and easily holds this Korean noir together." He added "this is hugely enjoyable, and beautifully brutal."[4]

Lee Byung-hun was praised for his acting ability with a critic from Cinema Eye saying that he "brings sheer excitement in his performance" and is "an angel dressed in vengeance". The critic also noted that A Bittersweet Life is "the best film of 2005."[5] On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds a 100%, with an average score of 8.1 out of 10 based on eight reviews.[6] A critic from BeyondHollywood.com gave the film 4/5 stars.[7]

In 2009, Empire Magazine named it third in a poll of the "20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've Never Seen* (*Probably)".

Though the box office is unknown, when the film finally ended its theatrical run, it had 1,291,621 admissions.[2]

Awards and nominations

2006 8th Deauville Asian Film Festival[8]

  • LOTUS ACTION ASIA – Grand Prix Action Asia, Action Asia Prize

2006 Fant-Asia Film Festival[9]

  • Silver Prize Best Asian Film
  • Best photography – Ji-yong Kim

2005 Sitges Film Festival[10]

  • Best Original Soundtrack – Dalparan and Jang Young-Gyu
  • Nomination – Best Film

2006 42nd Paeksang Arts Awards[11]

2005 26th Blue Dragon Film Awards

  • Best Cinematography – Kim Ji-yong
  • Nomination – Best Director – Kim Ji-woon
  • Nomination – Best Leading Actor – Lee Byung-hun
  • Nomination – Best Supporting Actor – Hwang Jung-min
  • Nomination – Best Music – Dalparan and Jang Young-gyu
  • Nomination – Best Art Direction – Ryu Sung-Hee
  • Nomination – Best Lighting – Shin Sang-Ryeol

2005 25th Korean Critics' Choice Awards

  • Top 10 Films
  • Best Actor – Lee Byung-hun
  • Best Music – Dalparan, Jang Young-gyu

2005 13th Chunsa Film Art Awards

2005 42nd Grand Bell Awards[12][13]

  • Best Supporting Actor – Hwang Jung-min
  • Nomination – Best Actor – Lee Byung-hun
  • Nomination – Best Film
  • Nomination – Best Director – Kim Ji-woon
  • Nomination – Best Cinematography – Kim Ji-yong
  • Nomination – Best Art Direction – Ryu Sung-Hee
  • Nomination – Best Editing – Choi Jae-geun
  • Nomination – Best Music – Jang Young-gyu
  • Nomination – Best Sound

2005 4th Korean Film Awards

Soundtrack

A Bittersweet Life Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album
Released April 7, 2005
Genre Soundtrack
Label Pony Canyon (KR)

The A Bittersweet Life original soundtrack was released on April 7, 2005.[14]

A Bittersweet Life OST track listing
No. Title Artist Length
1. "Dialogue #1"     0:27
2. "My Sad Night"     4:00
3. "Irreversible Time"     2:14
4. "Dialogue #2"     0:04
5. "Romance"   Yuhki Kuramoto 5:00
6. "Red Lounge"   Dalparan 4:26
7. "Long Journey"     2:33
8. "Red Ice Rink"   Dalparan 3:05
9. "A Bittersweet Life II"   Dalparan 3:09
10. "A Bittersweet Life"   Dalparan 2:33
11. "Escape"   Dalparan 6:02
12. "Fairness"     2:58
13. "Dark Room"   Dalparan 3:09
14. "Follow"   Dalparan 2:25
15. "Etude in E Minor"     1:55
16. "Dialogue #3"     0:20
17. "Sky Lounge"     4:18
18. "Irreversible Time (Quartet)"     2:09
19. "A Bittersweet Life III"   Yang Pa 5:39
20. "A Honeyed Question"   Hwang Jung-min 4:27

[15][16]

Other adaptations

There is a Bollywood-remake of the movie called Awarapan (2007), starring Emraan Hashmi.

See also

References

External links


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