Audience Member
One of the better movies about political corruption and the korean mob or Kkangpae competing to land grab the section of Seoul which later becomes the Beverly Hills of SKorea from the perspective of two poor childhood friends working for competing gangs. Both male leads are very compelling.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
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Audience Member
they may have been taking a chance by casting LEE MIN HO as the lead as this is his FIRST 'lead role' in a movie.. but... he does NOT disappoint.. even thru the violence, anger, and 'darkness' he shines. The movie itself is also very well done... it's dark.. raw... intensity fits well with the plot and the time period. MUST SEE in my opinion!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
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Audience Member
South Korea, early-1970s. The government decides to redevelop the Gangnam area south of Seoul, an area that is currently essentially a shanty town. This redevelopment will mean wealth for property owners and developers and corrupt politicians waste no time in feathering their nests. Also into this vacuum steps several criminal gangs, fighting over land, and often working on behalf of the politicians. Caught up in this is a resident of Gangnam, Jong-dae, who discovers that by joining one of the gangs he can pull himself up out of his poverty.
Had heaps of potential. There are similarities with The Godfather - the turf war, the gangster connection, the unwilling civilian who becomes a crime lord, the sweeping scale of the drama. However, that's about where the similarities end. While The Godfather was a cinematic masterpiece, Gangnam Blues is mediocre.
The biggest problem is that it is unfocussed. Writer-director Ha Yoo tries to cram in too many stories and sub-plots, minimizing engagement with individual characters and making the movie overly long and padded. Focusing on the lead character and keeping detours in the plot to a minimum would have made for a much better movie.
On the plus side, the movie is quite gritty and the action scenes quite good. Reasonably entertaining, in spells.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
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Audience Member
Good formula gangster film with action and a little love story too.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/02/23
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Audience Member
A good movie with an interesting backdrop. The plot - which could be easily in any Western or even Indian movie - is ably supported by excellent cast and good intensity.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
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Audience Member
A return to the gangster genre after A Dirty Carnival (2006), director Yoo Ha's Gangnam Blues (or Gangnam 1970) is a South Korean neo-noir crime drama set in the '70s, revolving around the struggle for control of the area southwards of the Han River, which would go on to become the famous Gangnam district, in a hybridization of crime, politics and action.
Pulled into skirmishes as their separate factions attempt to gain control of the land through gang intimidation, murders, and behind the scenes political maneuvering, the story of Jong-dae and Yong-ki is convoluted for a good half of the film due to the almost a continuous streak of backstabbing, triple-crossing and at times barely distinguishable characters of the large cast, and as the kinks in the narrative is gradually ironed out, the viewer is eased slowly into understanding the transpiring events despite Gangnam Blues' insistence on remaining unoriginal and retreading old, creaky genre tropes in its crime narrative.
Despite the slight incoherence, the film nonetheless moves at a decent pace to deliver a stylistic portrait of South Korea in the '70s, as would-be politicians and businessmen have hushed discussions in offices, while those in the lower echelons, gangsters in cheap suits and floral shirts armed with baseball bats, hatchets, knifes and any manner of household objects, go about attempting to secure control of the area for their bosses to use as a political leverage through any means necessary.
Though the utility of several characters is clunky, particularly Rae-won's Yong-ki whose hazy motivation is offset by the actor's physical performance that manages to match up to his co-star, Min-ho's calm façade and better developed character, the performance of the cast is passable all around, while the casting choices based purely on the appearance of particular actors is iffy at best. Both the love interests of the leads - Min Seon-hye (Kim Ji-soo) and Kang Seon-hye (Kim Seolhyun) - look generally the same, and would certainly cause viewers to constantly do a double take in separating the two - especially during the risqué sex scenes -, and the same extends to the other actors.
As blood turns into the currency of Gangnam Blues, Yoo Ha evokes themes of death, the value of life and socioeconomic tribulations, particularly in a rain-soaked muddy set piece involving a thematic, visually impressive large scale gang battle, with the now signature filmmaking style familiar to South Korean cinema being shown through evocative cinematography, rampant violence and the deeply entrenched, recurring themes that the country's filmmakers constantly dive into.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
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