Culturally biased, may not be fully appreciated by some

Rating: 7/10 (19 December 2005)

A majority of these comments are undeserving on both ends of the spectrum. Being a Korean American, there are things in the movie I take for granted.
replies on some previous comments: The octopus eating part which seems to confuse many of my fellow reviewers is something pretty common in south Korea. Wanting to eat something alive is supposed to symbolize strength.. etc.
Are Asian fighting scenes all supposed to be stylistically correct? The way people fight in this film is more realistic and identifiable with a country like south Korea. Even though we'd all like everyone else to think so, not all Asians are black belts (or whatever the highest level is) in their respective martial arts.
back to the movie: This movie relies on the audience's belief in the powers of hypnosis and most of the characters just being out of their minds. If you can't believe either, this movie will disappoint. The movie also heavily relies on the shock value of how far Woo-Jin goes to settle a childhood beef, and Dae-Su goes to save his daughter from knowing the truth as well as the gore and violence along the way. It may seem unbelievable that Woo-Jin would hold Dae-Su captive for so long, spend loads of money, then kill himself all because he had a relationship (one he had no shame for) with his sister that Dae-Su had allegedly told everyone about. Still, with Woo-Jin's extreme wealth and lack of further goals, it is plausible. The movie shows the various attitudes of Korean (asian) culture and how certain values like pride, shame, protection of family and self-sacrifice go beyond logic and reasoning. Desperation is frequently a strong catalyst of the character's motives.
Technically speaking, the actors generally gave good performances (no real standouts here), cinematography and musical score were excellent, and plot was okay. The ending could have been less forgiving. I would have been more impressed with more chaos and suicides, but I don't think this movie would have been received well in Korea if it had been so.
recommended to most Asians, not so much to narrower minded, skeptical people.
7/10