A Dirty Carnival
| A Dirty Carnival | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster
|
|
| Hangul | |
| Hanja | 한 거리 |
| Revised Romanization | Biyeolhan geori |
| McCune–Reischauer | Piyŏlhan kŏri |
| Directed by | Yoo Ha |
| Produced by | Cha Seung-jae Kim Mi-hee Choi Seon-jeong |
| Written by | Yoo Ha |
| Starring |
Jo In-sung Lee Bo-young Namgung Min Jin Goo Chun Ho-jin |
| Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
| Cinematography | Choi Hyeon-gi |
| Edited by |
Park Gok-ji Jeong Jin-hee |
|
Production
company |
Sidus FnH
|
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
141 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Box office | US$10,371,998 |
A Dirty Carnival (Hangul: 비열한 거리; RR: Biyeolhan geori) is a South Korean neo-noir mob film directed by Yoo Ha. It is Yoo Ha's fourth feature film, his previous work being the 2004 drama, Once Upon a Time in High School.
A Dirty Carnival is the story of Kim Byung-doo, a small-time gangster in his late 20s. Unable to acquire the money necessary to save his family from eviction, Byung-doo subverts his boss, Sang-chul, and takes a job directly from President Hwang, Sang-chul's boss, to eliminate Attorney Park, a public prosecutor who has been bothersome to President Hwang. On this job's completion, Byung-doo receives the money he was hoping for in addition to President Hwang's respect and a spot at his side. Byung-doo and President Hwang swear never to speak of the hit to anyone so that they, and the organization, will not be implicated.
While these events unfold, Byung-doo is reunited with his elementary school friend, Min-ho, who has become a movie director. Min-ho's current project is a gangster film, although prospective scripts are continuously shot down by his higher-ups for being too fake. In an attempt to improve the film's authenticity, Min-ho sets out to interview Byung-doo who he sees as "a real gangster". Meanwhile, Min-ho manages to reunite Byung-doo with his high school love interest, Hyun-joo. Byung-doo finds that he still has an interest in her and attempts to rekindle their relationship.
Sang-chul becomes aware of the Attorney Park murder and feels threatened by Byung-doo's subversion of his authority and lack of consideration for the organization. To test his ultimate allegiance, he has Byung-doo's crew assist a Russian gangster (Hwang's rivals) in transporting sex slaves but falls short when it is ambushed by Hwang's men tipped off by Byung-doo himself. Hwang sets up a hit to take out Sang-Chul, while Sang-chul does the same to Byung-doo. Byung-doo murders Sang-chul without much incident.
These murders don't leave Byung-doo without heavy emotional baggage, however. When Byung-doo's gangster tendencies frighten Hyun-joo away, Min-ho attempts to console Byung-doo who reveals to Min-ho his darkest secrets, including the hits on both Attorney Park and his former boss, Sang-chul.
Missing Hyun-joo deeply, Byung-doo tries to hide his gangster tendencies to revive their relationship. However, despite his words to Hyun-joo otherwise, Byung-doo is unable to truly escape the gangster occupation. In fact, as his rank within the gang escalates, his actions become more violent and cruel, juxtaposing his ever-growing affection for Hyun-joo.
...
Wikipedia