Day 10: Shiri (1999, Dir. Kang Je-gyu)
This South Korean thriller is an entertaining enough film following attempted assassinations and a rocky relationship all whilst the nation prepares for a football match with North Korea, or something like that…
Disregarding a great deal of plot development and instead drawing heavily upon a Hollywood action movie style, this film manages to be a pretty convincing thriller but there is little else on offer. Kang Je-gyu proves he is a competent director when it comes to gun fights and increasing the explosive tension for the films climax. And Some of the action is indeed effective, but often feels unnecessarily big, brash and pointless, especially when there is another darkly lit shoot-out slotted into the narrative every 15 minutes or so.
The real drama here revolves around the thorny subject of Korean reunification in the late 90’s, and this is a very unique context for a thriller, providing an interesting social setting whilst highlighting issues facing both countries, issues which continue to be topical to this day. Unfortunately any narrative interest that is created through the political aspect of the story is countered by the romantic elements, which quickly turn from an intriguing emotional connection to an overly bloated plot point; slowing down the film and losing the audiences interest in any of the drama it has created.
Shiri never really punches above being an adequate action film; some nice ideas, ok characters, a few exciting fights and set pieces all wrapped up in an interesting political setting, but it never manages to gel enough to make this the great action thriller its wants to be.
5/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192657/
Extra: Not a good film for fish fans either. Eek…
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