Night In Paradise

Tae-goo (Lee Ki-young) is very good at his job. A rival company wants him to come and work for them but he's happy where he is. The other company don't take rejection well so they kill his family. Yeah. Headhunting in South Korea is serious business it seems especially when it comes to the criminal underworld. Tae-goo uses his assassination skills to get revenge which causes all manner of internal strife for the crime faction he works for and while the higher hopes try to squash the beef he goes to lay low on Jeju island. While there he meets a kindred spirit named Jae-yeon (Jeon Yeo-been). Jae-yeon is dying, she hasn't got long left, and as she fades physically, Tae-goo's already gone psychologically. Can this odd friendship survive the chaos coming their way? Chaos led by Chief Ma (Cha Seung-won), an extremely sadistic piece of work hellbent on fixing corporate issues.

When you go into a film knowing one of the main characters has lost everything in life and the other has a terminal illness you wouldn't be blamed for not expecting much in the way of fun. But when Night In Paradise fades to black you'll hopefully be grinning like a blood crazed loon wondering what in the name of jesus did you just watch. It's a feeling you get a lot when you watch Korean cinema. You might want to go have a shower and maybe hug a loved one if you're lucky enough to have one in your bubble but you'll know you just watched something you'll remember for quite a while.

This is an odd one. A film caught between contemplation and chaos, an art house piece spiked with video nasty violence. It may be too languid for the action crowd, too full of pierced flesh and mangled faces for the arty set but if you can get through the opening half hour that sets the tone for the film with it's mix of the ponderous and the graphic you'll be fine for the next 100 minutes. Plus if you can stay with it you'll be treated to a couple of action set-pieces that once again blow away anything coming out of America. When a simple shootout between gangsters in a fish shed is more visceral and exciting than an entire Superhero movie you know you're on the right track. The action cinema of East Asia is always a joy to behold. Clear geography within a scene, no juddery editing, no requirements to keep things family friendly, just sweet sweet carnage of the kind that makes you appreciate the wonders of film making.

It's violence might make you squeak but it's the chemistry between Jae-yeon and Tae-goo that makes it work. She's accepted death is on her doorstep, he's numb to the world. At first they hate each other but shared misery and vodka brings them together and a great scene over a (surprisingly appetising looking) bowl of raw fish stew bonds them. Lee Ki-young & Jeon Yeo-been both nail their parts, especially in the instances where their humanity shines through, for him an early scene of excitement and joy and for her a late scene where she realises she still has the ability to care. Cha Seung-won has a whale of a time as the man bringing horror upon them. He's a vile creation but not a one note one. Like the other characters he's layered, capable of surprising you and one decision he makes brings me to my only real issue with the film.

Something happens in the last 5 minutes that really jars with everything that's come before. A scene that's so over the top you won't sure whether to laugh or shout profanely at the screen. Even the vehicular mayhem and the ....hmmmm, let's just call it fun with knives, from earlier doesn't hint at the lunacy that ends the story. Depending on your disposition it may either ruin the whole thing for you or be the blood soaked cherry on top. Me, I loved it, but I'm warped.

Night In Paradise is streaming on Netflix now. It's a good one.