Sunday, August 22, 2010

The Man From Nowhere* (아저씨)



"How many cavities do you have?"

South Korean actor Won Bin, known for much of his career as a pretty boy/sidekick, has immortalized himself with his role in The Man From Nowhere. Finally, Oh Dae-Su has fierce competition in terms of who Korea's toughest cinematic badboy is.

What begins as a riff on Luc Besson's Leon** slowly and masterfully becomes a tale with a much wider scope without sacrificing the heart of the film's conceit: the man-on-a-rescue-mission movie; and that's where Won Bin leaves his indelible mark. He is convincing. Won Bin has hit the highest note of his career, and, boy, unexpected but appreciated.

What a great film. What a great, great film.

Lee Jeong Beom has directed a pure masterpiece, a straightforward action-thriller that will capture audiences worldwide with its fantastic storytelling build.

"I'm a pawnshop owner..."


* Terribly translated as This Man on IMDB.

** Kisses

2 comments:

Avis said...

Doesn't appear that I can get it on Netflix. Frown!

Harrison Forbes said...

It's still in cinemas here. Another great film starring Won Bin worth checking out is 2009's Mother.