Apr

3

2008

Open City

Posted by luna6


Movie: Open City | Mobangbi Doshi | 무방비도시
Release Date: January 10, 2008
Country: South Korea
Director: Sang-ki Lee
Starring: Myeong-min Kim, Ye-Jin Son
Runtime: 112 min.
Editor Rating: 3.0
Users Rating: 6.57 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (14 votes)

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A gang of wealthy criminals, indulging in the art of pick-pocketing, runs amok in the city of Seoul and steals an alarming amount of money from the people on the streets. That’s a scene straight out of the new Korean film “Open City,” but it could just as easily work as a metaphor for the filmmakers of “Open City” and how they pick-pocketed the money from the casual movie goers for “Open City.” No doubt about it, Open City is an alarmingly dumb film that tests your patience and willingness to follow its putrid storyline. It only takes two scenes before you start scratching your head in disbelief. A victim from a pick-pocket attempt gone wrong gets her arm slashed almost in half by a knife wielding gang member, but she never screams out in pain, rather she just sits there with a confused gaze … in a department store during the middle of the day. And, as Karen Carpenter once sang, ”We’ve only just begun.”

opencitymain2.jpgThe oddball story found within “Open City” centers around a jet-set criminal organization named the Samsung gang (corporate plug right there), who are involved in the highly lucrative trade of pick pocketing (hunh?). The Samsung group have ties with the Japanese Yakuza and worked successfully out of the Osaka, Japan area. Without much explanation, the group then moves back to their home base of Seoul and starts pilfering the local citizens there. The leader of the Samsung group is Jang-mi Baek. She works as a tattoo artist by day and by night is the mastermind of the Samsung group.

When the Samsung group move into the busy Myeongdong shopping area of Seoul, Jang-mi is spotted by a rival gang leader named Ki-taek. Ki-taek ambushes Jang-mi while she walks in a back alley of Myeongdong and starts beating her ferociously in front of his men. Unbeknown to all the pick pocketing gangsters assembled in the alley way, a cop happens to be sitting in a car nearby. The cop’s name is Dae-yeong and he doesn’t take bull. Dae-Young beats the thugs mercilessly and afterwards, takes the victim to a nearby cafe. When Dae-Young arrives back at their table with coffee Jang-mi is already long gone.

Jang-mi plans for even bigger heists but she needs the helps of a legendary pick-pocket named Mang-ok Kang. Mang-ok Kang has just been released from jail and has vowed to leave the criminal world behind. Mang-ok refuses all of Jang-mi’s overtures to join her organization, but when Jang-mi uncovers a startlingly secret between Mang-ok and the cop that rescued her a few days earlier Dae-Young, she may have to break her vow.

The relationship between Dae-Young and Mang-ok is more appropriate for a third rate soap opera and will likely cause the audience to roll their eyes in disbelief or run for the exit doors and upchuck all the popcorn and dried octopus they ate prior to that cheesy revelation. But if you think that’s the lowest point of the movie think again. There’s plenty of more (unbelievable) surprises stored in Open City.

The main drawing card for the film would be with Ye-jin Son’s performance as a sexy villainess. Normally associated with sweet innocent roles (Classic / Lover’s Concerto), Ye-jin Son brings out an artillery of mini skirts, stilettos and low cut blouses to heat up the screen. In theory at least. Although Ye-Jin Son’s performance wasn’t as bad as the movie’s script, she certainly wasn’t convincing as a seductress either. To be frank, no matter how many cigarettes she puffed on or however many low cut dresses she wore, she still carried the persona of a sweet innocent girl, role playing as a sexy vixen on Halloween. Co-star Myeong-min Kim was way better in his last movie “Return” and exuded all of the charisma of a wallflower in “Open City.” The supporting cast was the worst of the lot, having way too many familiar faces play way too familiar cop or villain supporting roles.

If you’re holding out hope that the actual pick pocketing scenes may hold interest or excitement, guess again. Every one of those scenes were shot in slow motion, negating the need to possess any kind of skill for those scenes.

There’s a lot of dumb things about Open City. So much so that I wouldn’t know where to start, but the yacht scene at the end does stand out for its sheer banality. In case you’re wondering why, just remind yourself the next time you’re driving a yacht away from a cop with a loaded pistol … “duck!” Adding more insult to injury, there’s also the silliest of silly surprises given at the end of the movie. If I had to rate the magnitude of stupidity found within that last scene, it would have easily scored a perfect 10.

One of the few scenes I actually liked in Open City summed up my feelings towards “Open City” perfectly. When police officer Dae-Young walked up to the thugs beating up Jang-mi in the alleyway, he nonchalantly placed his hand inside of his jacket pocket. He then pulled his hand out and revealed a tightly clenched fist, with his middle finger prominently pointing up. My sentiments to the cast and crew of “Open City.”

buy Open City from YesAsia

Cast:
Myeong-min Kim - Dae-young
Ye-jin Son - Sang-mi

Hae-suk Kim - Man-ok Kang
Ji-ho Shim - Seong-su Choi (Antenna)
Byung-ho Son - Lieutenant In-su Oh
Yu-seon Yun
Byeong-ok Kim
Dae-han Ji
Gil-Soo Park

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2008 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |

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6 Comments so far

  1. 6 nikeg Says: April 25, 2008

    i can see why u didnt like the movie, but i cant help but love son ye jin (my future wife). she just cant be an evil girl… fine with me she should go back to her romantic stuff or art of seduction stuff. i will say she was absolutely breathtaking to me in this movie.

  2. 5 Rico Says: April 7, 2008

    the movie wasnt so bad imho, it is a movie that i wouldnt watch twice, but son ye-jin was great as always, although not very convincing as a bad girl but maybe she can pull it off better with a better script/movie…

    I rate it 6.5

    PS movie of the week imho

    The (devils) game ! now that was god one !!!

  3. 4 maximus Says: April 6, 2008

    I also liked “Art of Seduction”, very good movie. Son Ye-jin was very funny in it.

  4. 3 luna6 Says: April 4, 2008

    Maximus I haven’t watched “Love Exposure” yet. But, I will check it out after “Rainbow Eyes” (another request) and then do a write up on it. Maybe Sunday … maybe next week but will post it then.

    Same here with you on your sentiments for Son Ye-jin. I liked her best in “Art of Seduction” where she was mischievous but seemed totally within her realm (fun script as well). Out of all the recent Korean films that featured actors/actresses stepping out of their usual stereotypes, Kim Tae-Hee impressed me the most in Venus and Mars. Defintiely not saying the movie was good, but was she believable in that. Cheers…

  5. 2 maximus Says: April 4, 2008

    I checked this one out just because Son Ye-jin was in the cast. I was impressed by her acting in April Snow.
    I think she is not up to the task in her vilain / femme fatale role. She really looks too young, too cute and too sweet for that.
    Also I think the make-up and costume team when overboard: was she acting or modeling ?

    I agree with you the story is mostly dumb and the final twist is ridiculous.

    I wonder if this movie was successfull in Korea ? (I’m from France)

    I recently watched “Love Exposure” where Lee Mi-yeon also appears in a somewhat “different” role. I liked her in her dramatic roles in “Addicted”, “Indian Summer” and “Pisces”. I wonder what you think about this one…

  6. 1 fredy Says: October 30, 2007

    korean women are so hot! This movie looks good.