My first disclosure is that I luuuurve spaghetti westerns, and have done ever since I was a kid. But what about kimchi westerns? I ask this because I recently had the opportunity to view a Korean spaghetti western on a plane flight. Now, as you know, watching movies on a plane is a lose-lose proposition. The film has no doubt been edited for size and content and, with the constant humming from the engines, combined with the sardine-like ambience in Economy class, a good time is not guaranteed. Nonetheless, I persisted.
The Good, The Bad, The Weird is film-maker Kim Jee Woon‘s homage to spaghetti westerns, and it’s a treat. An obvious allusion to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, it is a filmfest of bullets, explosions and laconic coolness from the hero.
Some Western viewers have commented that the politics is confusing, so let’s get that out of the way first. The movie is set in the 1930s. The Japanese have installed a puppet regime in Manchuria, which has taken control of Korea. Of course, Korea wants independence. That’s it. Now, onto the movie.
Petty robber Tae-Goo (Song Kang-ho aka The Weird) unwittingly comes into possession of a treasure map while robbing a train. Unfortunately for him, Chang-Yi (Lee Byung-hun aka The Bad), the leader of a band of bandits, has been paid money by the map’s original owner to retrieve the map and thus double-cross the Japanese official to whom the map had been sold. Do-Won (Jung Woo-sung aka the Good) is a bounty hunter who’s chasing down Chang-Yi and gets embroiled in the whole treasure map business. When the three discover that the map is genuine, tensions ratchet up. With the Japanese Army, and assorted other thugs, on their trail, will they have time to even escape with their lives, much less find the treasure?
Oh, I haven’t had this much fun in ages. This movie is a treat from start to finish, from the writing (by Kim Ji Woon and Kim Min-suk, that even English subtitles couldn’t subdue) to the breathtaking landscape of Manchuria where the film was shot. Jung Woo-sung is terrific as The Good, a smooth, suave, sharpshooter of few words who’s totally focused on bringing Chang-Yi to justice. Unfortunately, being The Good, there isn’t much scope for Jung Woo-sung to give a totally over-the-top performance, but I’ve seen him on the covers of many other Korean movies, so may have to get some of those as well.
The Bad, played by Lee Byung-hun, is brilliantly psychotic. As his character is completely off the wall, Lee Byung-hun is given ample opportunity to stretch the character as far as he could, and the result is intense and enjoyable. In fact, his portrayal of the teteeringly insane Chang-Yi reminded me of director Jerzy Hoffman’s treatment of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s With Fire and Sword. The character Jurko Bohun is portrayed as slightly deranged in the movie and is played with the same kind of unbalanced brilliance by Aleksandr Domogarov. I remain impressed with both actors.
But the prize must go to The Weird, as portrayed by Song Kang-ho, a well-known, “self-taught” actor. His bumbling character, with its startling mix of rough compassion and ruthless brutality, is a classic, and the movie is worth seeing for this role alone. And the landscape of Manchuria, with those gorgeous sweeping shots, is a fitting fourth character to the action.
Mighty Peking Man produces the best single-sentence review of The Good, The Bad, The Weird:
“Above anything this film is trying to showcase, the action is what shines the most — it’s crisp, fast, inventive and brutal.”
Being an veteran Asian film-watcher, he doesn’t think this is Kim Ji Woon’s best film, citing A Bittersweet Life as superior, but even he admits the film is damned stylish. You can read his full review here.
But I’m not a veteran of Korean film-making. In fact, I believe this is the first Korean film I’ve ever seen. But it’s so good that I’m nominating it as my Film of the Year.
RATING: 10 / 10. Brilliant! Even on a plane.
