Jipuragirado jabgo sipeun jibseungdeul
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In the opening scene of Beasts Clawing at Straws, a big Louis Vuitton bag is stuffed into a locker. As the end credits roll, we see the same bag again in close-up, but in someone else’s hands. In the time between these two shots, director Kim Yonghoon presents a host of characters in his beautifully constructed crime drama, all of whom are hell-bent on putting the others out of the game. Having gone bankrupt, Joong-Man is forced to move back in with his mother, who has Alzheimer’s. He finds the bag full of money in a locker at a public baths, and sees it as the solution to all his (financial) problems. Customs official Tae-Young is also urgently in search of money, as his girlfriend has run off with the capital he borrowed from a shady moneylender. Mi-Ran has lost a fortune on the stock market and is now working as a 'hostess' to earn it back again. One day, an amorous client offers to kill her violent husband for her. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
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A stunning directorial debut packed with a star-studded cast, with a great story and plenty of tension and violence. One suitcase full of money intertwines three different storylines that gradually start to fit together nicely and also leave dead bodies in their wake. Very well thought out with tense situations, uncompromising twists, violence that is not outright explicit but very naturalistic, and above all it's very entertaining with gorgeous neo-noir visuals. Koreans and Spaniards are ruling cinemas this year without a doubt! (not that it was ever otherwise, hehe). Story****, Action***, Humor>No, Violence***, Entertainment****, Music***, Visual****, Atmosphere****, Suspense****. Recommended! 8/10.
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I'm having some kind of a golden touch with Korean movies right now. I certainly don't consider it the norm for a story to be this well written, well thought out, and – most importantly – unpredictable. The actors are also very well cast, and the lead Woo-seong Jeong is convincing in his role and more himself than he’s been in a long time. There was just the right amount of violence, or at least it didn't go over the top as Koreans are sometimes wont to do. I enjoyed untangling the tangled ball around the bag and the ending was very, very satisfying.
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