City of Violence Review
What follows is my earlier review of City of Violence updated with details on the new Korean DVD release. Yes, there are a good number of people with a higher opinion of this film that I have myself, but having just re-read the review I still hold to everything contained within.]
The problem with big expectations is that they often lead to big disappointments and the sad reality is that Korea’s “action kid” Ryoo Seung Wan has followed the best film of his career – Crying Fist – with his worst. Though City of Violence does indeed deliver on the promise of plentiful martial arts action from Ryoo himself and co-star / fight choreographer Jung Doo Hong the film as a whole is positively crippled by a less-than-half baked script.
Jung stars as Tae Soo, a cop based in Seoul who returns to his hometown when he learns that his closest childhood friend, a reformed gangster named Wang Jae, has been killed. While at the funeral Tae Soo is reunited with other childhood friends Pil Ho – Wang Jae’s slightly greasy brother in law and successor as gang boss – and Suk Hwan, a hot tempered minor thug played by director Ryoo himself. Following the funeral Suk Hwan, driven by a desire for revenge, and Tae Soo, unable to shake the feeling that there’s more to the story then he is being told, set out to find Wang Jae’s killers and take them down.
The most immediate problem with the film is the most immediately glaring and also the most significant: there is absolutely zero chemistry between the major players which is a huge problem considering they are all supposed to have been close from childhood and more than a little perplexing considering that Ryoo and Jung and real life long time friends and frequent collaborators. When the buddies don’t click in a supposed buddy film you have a major, major problem.
Issue two is a script that frequently relies on major leaps of logic to propel the plot along. Tae Soo’s belief that there is more to Wang Jae’s death is based on precisely nothing and makes no sense whatsoever despite being correct. The mass street fight between Tae Soo, Suk Hwan and several gangs of teenagers – though providing one of the film’s major set pieces – also utterly defies any semblance of logic. If you cared about the characters you’d be willing to take things like this with a wink and a nod and a sense of fun but with neither character nor logic to hang your hat on there’s not much of anywhere left to turn.
Issue three is a shocking lack of subtlety to the script, again surprising turn considering just how strong Ryoo’s writing was for Crying Fist. Cliches abound and the primary villain is telegraphed the moment he appears on screen – hell, if you’ve seen the trailers you probably know who he is – which is problematic considering that you’re not really supposed to know until the half way mark or so.
What the film does well is the martial arts, though several sequences are shot too closely to fully appreciate. Jung is by far the best fight choreographer working in Korea today and a seriously talented fighter while Ryoo has trained in tae kwon do since childhood and can more than hold his own. The fight sequences – even the crazy extreme sports / breakdance sequence – are played almost entirely naturally with minimal CG or wire assist and none whatsoever when it comes to the nuts and bolts of combat. They are fast paced, inventive, and kinetic – very impressive stuff. The final climactic battle – set to a fantastic spaghetti western score – is truly epic, a last man standing brawl pitting the two leads against a cast of hundreds.
With so much talent both behind and in front of the camera and a tried and tested plot line City of Violence had a chance to be, if not groundbreaking, at least a very strong buddy action film and just a bucket of fun. But this is a film that was simply not ready to be made, the talent largely wasted on a script that needed at least a couple more revisions to tighten the story and really find the characters. The up sides are very good but they sadly mostly serve to remind what the rest of the film could – and should – have been.
On to the DVD release! A two DVD set packaged in a gatefold digipack with a cardboard slipcase this thing sports the fantastic poster designs that we've been prasing for months now. This is a pretty release and what's contained on the discs is every bit as solid as the package that holds them.
Disc one - which sports a natty 70's style menu design, very nice - contains the feature itself. The transfer is what you would expect from a brand new film shot on HD which thus doesn't need to be transferred from analog film to the digital world: that is to say absolutely spotless. Included audio options are a standard stereo mix and a beefy DTS, plus directors commentary. English subtitles are offered on the feature only and are crisp and easy to read.
Disc two contains an ample feature set which, as is nearly always the case with Korean films, features no subtitles whatsoever. The features are divided over far more pages than are absolutely necessary - all the better to show off the spiffy poster art - with the first five being extended interview pieces with all of the significant players. Director Ryoo drops Scorsese into the conversation more than once, but other than that I was completely clueless, not speaking Korean. There are, however, some various nice features that will appeal to even non-Korean speakers. The key option is the thirty five minute behind the scenes reel that takes you point by point through every major action sequence, from the earliest walk throughs to the full speed real takes. You also get a 'just the fights' menu option that offers up the fight sequences with Korean-only commentary. Then there are nine deleted and alternate scenes, plus a reel of footage from the premiere at Venice and a collection of promotional materials.
While the US rights holder for the film - the Weinstein's Dragon Dynasty - has done well with their releases so far (bad name changes notwithstanding) there is, as yet, no plan announced for when or how this film will be made available to audiences outside of Korea. If you are the impatient type, not real pleased at the idea of waiting a year or two for it to make it on to domestic release schedules, then this Korean edition is an excellent option.
