Review:

A Bittersweet Life

Sound [3***]

Like my review for Lady Vengeance which will be an obviously relevant comparison), I will start with the music. Revenge movies really benefit from it's orchestral killing music and here we see it at use again. But this music doesn't really feel in the same way that one would expect in cinema. Sounds of guns are decent, but have a little too much echo, etc. There are a moderate amount of dead-sounding moments in the film as well. They are not necessarily helping the film.

Revenge [4****]

It puts out where it needs to. Everything you expect from a revenge movie is here, so you won't go away disappointed. Follows a number of the conventions one can be used to in asian and the revent swing of Korean revenge-themed movies. There is good, fresh violence as well.

Characters[2**]

Or lack of. Unfortunately, this is a low point of the movie. The characters, including the main one, can seem a little dead all the way up until the last five minutes. Even then, it's hard to make judgments on what the characters think, but rather you have be an assertive role watching the film, or else there's not too much you can get from it.

Concept [3***]

Though I won't get into too many details about the plot/concept behind it, it is somewhat interesting, but equally difficult to understand and appreciate. The movie is kind of slow, I'd say the first 40 minutes of it I was thinking that this will be a disappointing compared to the great reviews I have read about it. The first half may seem pointless, but just stick in there until the end. You will be rewarded... a little.

Overall [3***]

A Bittersweet Life lives up to it's name. And here is my bittersweet review: I wish it were a little easier to watch the first half. I also wish we got to know some of the characters a little better, which would highten the tension and experience. The cinematography was very interesting, though. So I would recommend this to someone looking for a revenge film, or interested in asian film-making. Other than that, you will not miss too much, IMO. Some very cool action sequences, but they can't really be watched in isolation... they are heavily context dependent.