Two Films (Happy End, Ong-Bak)
Film September 2nd, 2003
Instead of going to bed at 1am yesterday morning I stayed up and decided to finally put in “Happy End” into my DVD player. I bought it while in Thailand, ecstatic to actually find an “official” release there.
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched Korean films. “Happy End” isn’t exactly new, either.
I was interested in “Happy End” after seeing “Failan” – that is, I knew nothing of Choi Min Sik until I saw “Failan”. (it became one of my favorite films a few years ago when I bought the DVD).
I have to say that Choi’s performance was, as always, excellent. So was Jeon Do-yeon’s.
Choi plays an unemployed husband, searching for work. He finds out that his wife Bora (Jeon) has been having an affair and finds a way to end it. I know, that’s a rather short/terrible synopsis but it’s a bit late to go any further. I enjoyed the film quite a bit.
The film is not afraid to show the intensity of both sides during the affair. Not for children, “Happy End” features strong sex scenes (the first scene could be classified as softcore porn) and gory, violent acts of revenge. The dark humor strewn throughout is a nice touch. A piano/violin driven score puts the finishing touches on a beautifully shot film.
Has anyone else seen “Happy End”? Would like to discuss some of the scenes that I haven’t quite grasped yet. Many are beautifully composed…
A review of “Happy End” is available here at Rotten Tomatoes.
Got around to watching the 2 VideoCD version of “Ong Bak”, an action film that made quite a bit of money last year in Thailand. It’s definitely for all action and martial arts buffs. Another fun, mindless romp. My father stayed up late to watch it all, too.
“The Thai movie “Ong-bak” is the type of film that sane movie stuntmen avoid. Why? Because “Ong-bak” is a vicious and violent (although not very bloody) martial arts film that is less concern with the men doing the stunts than it is with showcasing the power, brutality, grace, and effectiveness of Muay Thai….”
The rest of the review is here. A more critical view here over at Rotten Tomatoes.
September 2nd, 2003 at 1:33 pm
you can call me guilty of endorsing piracy, whatever. but i downloaded ong bak, and although there weren’t any subtitles to match, the action blew me away.