DVD
REVIEW:
The City Of Violence
(Jjakpae)
09/08/07
Quentin Tarantino was
inspired by Asian cinema, now as a testament to his genius,
Tarantino has inspired Asian cinemas with the Korean release
of The City of Violence(TCV). As in Tarantino’s Kill Bill,
the director, Ryoo Seung-wan, of The City of Violence not
only uses the camera as an instrument to film a picture,
but as a tool to make a piece of art. A lot of the scenes is
TCV are beautifully shot and have a style in the same vein
as that of master filmmaker John Woo‘s The Killer.
The City of Violence tells the story of five high school
friends, Tae-su, Seok-hwan, Pil-ho, Dong-hwan, and Wang-jae,
whose lives each go in different directions. The friends
reunite when, Wang-jae, is murdered and Tae-su, a detective,
comes back to this hometown to investigate the murder. He
discovers that a lot has changed in the last ten years and
that, before his death, Wang-jae, a former gangster, had
gone straight and given up his gang to Pil-ho. Pil-ho, the
high school loser, now a greedy gang leader, uses the gang
to accumulate land and power to build a casino once the land
is designated as a special tourist district. Seeking revenge
Tae-su and Seok-hwan hit the streets in search of Wang-jae
killer.
The action sequence in TCV are spectacular and beautifully
choreographed. The performed are all above average, expect
for that of Pil-Ho (Beom-su Lee): He is brilliant as the
greedy conniving gangster. But what really makes TCV stand
out is the stylish camerawork. Ryoo Seung-Wan makes this
movie look cool. The third act is mind blowing, and the
scene where Tae-su and Seok-hwan come in through the double
wide door where Pil-ho is celebrating, will send chills down
your spine. The plot is nothing new, but is good enough and
the flashbacks that show the friends back in their younger
years are brilliant. They gives a good sense of the
friendships they once shared. I strongly recommend this
little gem of a film.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English
5.1 Korean 5.1/DTS
Subtitles English/English
SDH/Spanish
BONUS FEATURES:
DISK 1:
Commentary with Director and star Ryoo
Seung-wan.
Trailer Gallery: Original
Teaser Trailer, Original Korean Theatrical Trailer, U.S.
Promotional Trailer
Blooper Reel Bloopers
from the filming of the movie. (3 minutes)
Disk 2:
Pre-Production:
The Evolution of Action.
See how Director Ryoo Seung-wan’s style
of filming action has evolved. (12 minutes)
Creating Emotive Action with action director and
star Jung Doo-hung. Jung
Doo-hung discusses how he choreographed the action. (9
minutes)
Development and Pre-Production.
Director Ryoo Seung-wan talks about his
goals when developing The City of Violence. (10 minutes)
The Art of War: Conceptual Designs.
Production Designer, Jo Hwa-seong,
discusses the look of the film. (7 minutes)
Battle Plans: Technical Tests and Pre-Training.
Interviews with cinematographer Kim
Yeong-cheol (6 minutes)
Production:
Performance Management Interviews with the cast:
Interviews with cast. (8 minutes)
A behind-the-scenes exploration of the action
scenes. Explores how the main
action sequences were created. (35 minutes)
The Making of The City of Violence.
A nice documentary that shows how the
movie was created. (48 minutes)
A walk on the wild side.
Explores the development of the action
sequences (42 minutes)
A commentary on the movie’s action sequences with
action director Jung Doo-Hung.
(17 minutes)
Post-Production:
Deleted & Alternate Scenes with Director
Commentary. (8 minutes)
From Beyond the Grave
Exit Strategy
Wake Up Call,
Under Surveillance
Small Talk, Big Ideas
Blood work
Stitched Up
Take Two
Alternated Endings
Behind-the-scenes at the Venice Film Festival.
The director discusses the movie at
the 2006 Venice Film Festival. (4 minutes)
Designer Action: The development of the Art Work.
Features a discussion on the design
of the poster. (4 minutes)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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FEATURES |
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Review
By Brad Peterson
brad@smartcine.com
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