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Bad Guy (Kim Ki-duk, 2001)

Some spoilers.

Many thanks to Franco's avatar which caught my attention and inspired me to track down Bad Guy. I finally watched it last night and hmmm...it's a very difficult film to discuss. It is bascially a love story.. but a very uncompromising, sick one. I'm damn curious about how women perceive this film. An innocent, virginal college girl becomes so brutally degraded and forced into prostitution so that one of the pimps/bouncers gets closer to her and in the meantime they ultimately fall in love. Bad Guy is very unnerving and packed with sudden violence. No film contains more face slapping than this one. But on the other hand, Bad Guy strangely moved me and I still can't figure out why it did. Perhaps it was the girl's slow, harrowing degradation or the guy's desperate, painful melancholy over the loss of his once-beautiful past life, his wife that somehow found its way into my heart. The director's use of composition is stunning.. so perfect leaving Bad Guy with plenty of stunningly poetic moments to savor. The closing scene left me frustrated. What is up with the couple now?

Thank you so much, Michael, for starting the thread! This is one of my favourite films of all time.

All of the Korean women I met frowned or otherwise displayed expressions of disapproval when I mentioned my admiration for Kim Ki-Duk and for this film in particular. One of them told me that this is THE film that got the public nailing Kim Ki-Duk as a misogynist. She, however, did not endorse this public accusation; she simply said that she found the film excruciatingly sad.

Unfortunately, I have not talked to any non-Korean woman who has seen this film to its entirety. After I showed my best friend the magnificent opening sequence (that I can watch over and over again), she was confused and disconcerted by its attempt to drive the audience towards some kind of sympathy with the protagonist, who, according to my friend, was an asshole. I am glad I did not force her to sit through the whole thing.

Did any of you Vancouver folks manage to see this at Cinematheque back in March? It was combined with Anatomy of Hell into the best double-bill ever. Too bad I had both DVDs by that time, otherwise I would have had the pleasure to experience audience reaction.

After all, I have to thank Henrik for his review that got me into blind-buying the Tartan DVD.

Spoiler

I always think that the final portion of the film, after some vocalizing and stabbing, is the fantasy of our dying (or dead) protagonist. Kim Ki-Duk also acknowledges this interpretation in his commentary. On the other hand, the absurd ending (if it is real) can also represent the absurdity of true (?) love.

An interesting take on the ending. I noticed the enormous change in tone.. everything seemed weirdly calm and smooth especially after all the nonstop screaming and hitting throughout the film. Possibly the dying guy's fantasy like you said, Franco. So basically the film is one-sided...the guy's side that is. The films title confirms that.

More spoilers!

Spoiler

With Kim Ki-Duk's Catholic background, could he have suggested that our protagonist receives redemption, at the end, after letting go of what is most precious to him?

(if such a thread exists, I apologize but I did went throught the whole "search" nuisance and found nothing)

Can anyone point me to the best version of Ki-duk's The Isle on DVD? Beaver is not much of a help here seeing that they don't have a comparison review for this title. Which version offers the best picture then?

BTW, just saw last night The Bow and cried the whole length of the movie! What a glorious piece of effortless filmmaking and what a sensitive and heartbreaking story! Grimfarrow, shame on you, you heartless man for not liking Ki-duk's work. You actually put me off seeing any of his films and what a loss it was. Time to play catch up now!

Lino wrote:Grimfarrow, shame on you, you heartless man for not liking Ki-Duk's work. You actually put me off seeing any of his films and what a loss it was. Time to play catch up now!

Grimfarrow isn't the only one, Annie. Couldn't find the review by Tony Rayns, but CinemaScope's Chuck Stephens apparently isn't a fan either:

3 Iron (Kim Ki-duk, South Korea)
By Chuck Stephens

"The Freddie Mercury of Korean cinema."

That's how Tony Rayns rather mischievously—if altogether pointedly—described controversial South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, at the conclusion of a rather scathing profile of the director I'd commissioned for a special Korea-focused subsection of the November/December issue of Film Comment last year. The article, entitled “Sexual Terrorism: The Strange Case of Kim Ki-duk,â€

Tony Rayns, Chuck Stephens, and Scott Foundas (unlike Mr Farrow and Mr Bamba) are all... impossible!!

Not that I particularly like Kim Ki-duk's work either!

Annie, I thought you never took Grimfarrow's taste seriously

Kim Ki-Duk is one of my favorite directors. My admiration wavered once when a scene of unnecessary violence in 3-Iron really revolted me, but then again Natacha Atlas kept singing. How could I dislike a movie in which my favorite singer sings?

I would also love to get the best copy of The Isle. According to DVDTimes, the Tartan version is cut. The picture quality of the R1 First Run is less than acceptable and is non-anarmorphic. I heard good things about an R3 Korean version but I cannot find a review anywhere. As for the Hong Kong version, it's only 3.99 pounds!

Sorry for not being too useful.

franco wrote:I would also love to get the best copy of The Isle. According to DVDTimes, the Tartan version is cut. The picture quality of the R1 First Run is less than acceptable and is non-anarmorphic. I heard good things about an R3 Korean version but I cannot find a review anywhere. As for the Hong Kong version, it's only 3.99 pounds!

That Hong Kong version has a pretty poor image quality, but it is uncut, and very cheap. The best (really, the only) DVD of The Isle to be had is the out-of-print R3 Korean release. Good luck finding it (none of the Korean e-tailers I use stock it).

yoshimori wrote:Tony Rayns, Chuck Stephens, and Scott Foundas (unlike Mr Farrow and Mr Bamba) are all... impossible!!

A koan? If T.R., C.S. & S.F. are...impossible, then I'm impossible too.

franco wrote:Annie, I thought you never took Grimfarrow's taste seriously

Exactly! I'm surprised at myself too! Oh, and Pinback: I was dreading that the only decent edition would have been the OOP korean one. Any chances of a repressing, maybe?

Anyway, has anyone bought this and/or would like to share some recommendations?




edit: Ok, found it but why does it have to be so fucking expensive?!

http://www.asiandb.com/store/detail.pfm?num=3029

Annie,

that Kim Ki-duk boxset is probably well worth getting. When it first came out, The Birdcage Inn wasn't available seperatley, which was the main appeal of the box. If you don't have any of the individual titles, it's well worth getting. Otherwise, they can all be had individually.

As for AsianDB, they're criminally overpriced on almost everything they sell. That's probably the only reason they've still got the DVD in stock.

As for a chance of a re-issue, I guess it's possible. Korean DVDs are often gone for good once they've sold out, but not always.

Well, I think I have good news for those who still haven't bought The Isle on DVD or even for those that have bought it and are not completely satisfied. I received today in the mail this item here.

It was very cheap as you can see and I figured, why not? I'm glad I did that because to my eyes, this is the best version out there of this film on DVD. The sharpness is very high, the colors are amazing and although the disc contains korean and chinese subs (as well as english) I'm lead to believe that his is a port of the korean edition because even the menus are in korean.

Bottom line: it's cheap, it's great, it's a bargain, buy it!

Thanks for the wonderful news, Annie!

(Not exactly cheap for you, no? $8.50 international shipping?)

Annie, I eagerly await to hear what you have to say about Bad Guy if you're planning to check it out.

It's on my way, Michael, as a matter of fact! Be sure I will post my thoughts once it gets delivered to my doorstep. Meanwhile, do anything you have to do to get your hands on The Bow. It's Ki-duk's latest and what a beauty it is! It had me crying ALL THE WAY through it and it's never happened to me before or since!

This year, yours truly was the surprise guest Jury at the Fantasporto Film Festival in Oporto (20 minutes from where I live) and I was one of the 3 juries from the asian section of the films that were playing there. We gave two awards: one to Lady Vengeance and the Special Jury Prize to The Bow. This latter one was unanimous because the film is that good. It's very poetic, beautifully shot and the story is very original, fresh and touching. Be sure to see it as soon as you can!

Oh, and Franco: it still was cheaper than most. Don't forget that the Euro is now stronger than the dollar!

It's on my way, Michael, as a matter of fact! Be sure I will post my thoughts once it gets delivered to my doorstep. Meanwhile, do anything you have to do to get your hands on The Bow. It's Ki-Duk's latest and what a beauty it is! It had me crying ALL THE WAY through it and it's never happened to me before or since!

Annie, I love your enthusiasm and I now can't wait to see The Bow. What is it about the film that made you cry?

Be prepared for Bad Guy. It sounds like entirely opposite from The Bow. Bad Guy is extremely beautifully made.. the film's use of composition alone made me cry! However its one of the most disturbing, upsetting films I've ever seen. The ending of this film threw me offguard. It will leave you chewing on what the ending all means.

I'm not sure if I like 3-Iron or not. In my opinion, its not as spectacular as Bad Guy and I didn't like how 3-Iron ended. It's possible that I was missing something or misunderstanding but I loved the film's premise which faintly reminded me of one of my favorite books Breaking and Entering by Joy Williams.

The Isle is next in my queue.

Michael wrote:Annie, I love your enthusiasm and I now can't wait to see The Bow. What is it about the film that made you cry?

Well, if I were to tell you, I would be ruining the film for you. Let's just say that it was a combination of what was being put on the screen, what was coming across to me and how it affected me and made me think about my own very private feelings. Maybe I was just too sensitive the night I watched it but when later talking with other people who'd seen it with me, they experienced similarly intense reactions to it. I hope you do too.

About The Isle: I watched it last night for the first time and it baffles me that people were treating it like a sort of horror movie when it first came out. Far from it - The Isle is yet another strange love story that Ki-duk seems to specialize in, with some very grueling and gruesome elements thrown into it for some good measure. At first and on the surface it seems that he does that simply for shock value but if you start watching more films of his, you begin to see that what he's offering you is a vision into his very personal world, one sometimes filled with some very sadistic moments or actions but to my eyes they never look or feel gratuitous. He's just doing what he believes in.

Looking forward now to Bad Guy!

Watched Bad Guy the other night and wished I was in a better state of mind to appreciate it. Not to say that the film is not good - quite the contrary and the main leads are always compulsive to watch in their very emotional acting deliveries, especially the girl. However, since I am myself emotionally unstable these couple of days, let's just say that this is not a good movie to throw yourself into when you just can't deal with certain issues.

The ending is a bit baffling at first and a bit out of touch with the extreme realistic stuff Ki-duk has put us through during the whole length of the movie but maybe he just needs to add that little extra touch of magic in his films, something he/we cannot find in the real world.

Maybe I will give it another go when I'm feeling better. Maybe it will work on a different level. Great filmmaking, nonetheless.

Hi,

R4 DVD label Eastern Eye is releasing The Isle on DVD on May 17. The disc features an crisp uncut anamorphic and progressive transfer of the film in its uncropped OAR of 1.85:1. The film also comes with a Korean soundtrack in both Dolby 5.1 and 2.0. With an extensive bunch of extras, I believe this would be a definitive English-friendly edition of this film.



Video: 16:9 Anamorphic
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 87 mins
Transfer: Progressive PAL
Audio: Korean Dolby 5.1, Dolby 2.0
Extras:
- Making of THE ISLE (9 mins)
- Interviews with 7 cast & crew inc. Kim Ki-duk (total 27 mins)
- Featurette on Music Scoring (5 mins)
- Featurette covering Kim Ki-duk and his oeuvre (9 mins)
- Featurette about THE ISLE (7 mins)
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Production Stills gallery (38 stills of behind-the-scenes & onset photos)

Tartan Video in the UK is releasing 2 Ki-duk's titles:

Address Unknown in June

The Coast Guard in July

Time (Kim Ki-duk, 2006)

Promises to be another strange love story that is now Ki-duk's trademark.

And completely rejected from Cannes in all categories *snicker*

But so is Election 2, so what do they know?

Huh? ELECTION 2 is an official Cannes selection! It's just playing out of competition, that's all. TIME was rejected from ALL Cannes selections, in and out of competition, un certain regard, semaine de la critique, not to mention the Quinzaine des Realisateurs.

Hmm, I guess you're right but still I think that Election 2 should have been on the competition. This year's Cannes choices were a bit odd, to say the least.

Not a surprise at all - the reviews of ELECTION at Cannes last year was nearly universally hostile (except for Derek Elley's), especially by the French press. They would definitely not have given it a competition slot again.

Plus, I think ELECTION 2 isn't as good as the first, in part because it's lost a bit of novelty/innovation factor, and that Nick Cheung is no Tony Leung Ka-Fai. Not saying it's FAR worse than the original - people who liked the 1st will probably like the 2nd. Although the ending is a bit, ugh, "literal". Can't give it away - you'll see what I mean.