A Bittersweet Life

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A Bittersweet Life

2005

2h 0m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

A gangster (Lee Byung-hun) starts a violent feud after he refuses to kill his boss's (Kim Yeong-cheol) cheating girlfriend.

Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

04/11/2024

scenes of Tarantino-esque mayhem, messy rebirth and ultra-violent destruction serve to dramatise Sun-woo’s conflicting inner desires as he shadow-boxes with himself as much as taking down everyone else.

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Panos Kotzathanasis

HanCinema

12/16/2018

The film is filled with cliches of the category, starting with the script and continuing with the characters. However, Kim Jee-woon seems to realize the fact, and does not take the film so seriously, in a tactic that adds to the entertainment it offers

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Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

03/04/2015

8/10

The worst things about it are still awfully solid, and the best things are deep and probing far beyond what you'd ever naturally expect from a film of this model.

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Adam Lippe

Examiner.com

12/17/2011

It's all artifice. No matter how good the acting, how stylish the visuals, or efficient the screenplay, A Bittersweet Life never convinces us that it's not a movie.

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Don Willmott

Filmcritic.com

03/10/2009

4/5

What's great about all this isn't just the gloriously choreographed violence (among the best I've ever seen) but also Lee Byeong-heon's bravura and surprisingly profound performance

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Beth Accomando

KPBS.org

10/28/2006

10/10

The story revolves around Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun), a sleek and elegant mobster whose cat-like grace recalls Alain Delon in Le Samourai.

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Zoltán P

Nov 19

Impressive, dramatic, poetic. Masterpiece!!!

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Mark C

Jul 8

Heavily romanticized gang film saved by Lee's magnetism.

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Jun 2

It's a very sad movie, so much going on in the movie. The lead actor can't shoot, they portray him as the quiet, mysterious and a ruthless man and still he can't fight three guys that jumped hum. The mafia guys hardly have any guns, there is no police at all...

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Will S

Apr 5

Simply outstanding. Gratuitous without being excessive. Mean, but with a great sense of humor. Extremely awesome John Wooish modern gangster film.

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Dani G

Mar 18

It's one of those cases where you are watching a very enjoyable (and sometimes gratuitous) non-stop violence and bloody fest that's not ok, but you don't have a problem watching it again to enjoy once more. I wonder if John Wick took some elements from this one

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b s

Mar 11

又是一部有强烈韩国风格，荷尔蒙爆满，但却脱离现实的电影。作者在满足商业片爽感的前提下，通过佛经和回忆植入了自己的思想，多少会带来一点抽离和不协调。

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Kim Jee-woon

Director

Lee Byung-hun

Seon-u

Kim Yeong-cheol

Boss Kang

Shin Min-a

Huisu

Kim Roe ha

Munseok

Lee Ki-young

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Synopsis

A gangster (Lee Byung-hun) starts a violent feud after he refuses to kill his boss's (Kim Yeong-cheol) cheating girlfriend.

Director: Kim Jee-woon
Producer: Oh Jeong-wan
Screenwriter: Kim Jee-woon
Production Co: Bom Film Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Korean
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 22, 2019
Runtime: 2h 0m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital Surround EX