There are certain directors -- Im Sang-soo, Choi Dong-hoon, Yu Ha, the team of Lee Hae-joon and Lee Hae-young to name just a few -- whose work is so fresh and innovative that one can't help but wait in anticipation of their upcoming works. Another such filmmaker is Han Jae-rim, whose Rules of Dating [연애의 목적] was one of the most exciting discoveries of 2005. So when it was revealed that the director was working on a gangster film, I knew it would be anything but conventional. My enthousiasm even led me (a bit hastily) to predict a spectacular box office success, provided that Han was able to marshal the same quirky humor and snappy dialogue of his debut feature, without descending into the sappy melodrama that spoils so many otherwise good Korean pictures. At the time, I made no mention of his leading actor's abilities -- by now, there is no question of Song Kang-ho turning in a great performance. In The Show Must Go On, Song plays a mid-level gangster trying to balance work life and family life, with disastrous results. It would seem that Han has not only imbued his latest film with humor and superb camerawork, but also an added element of irony and escalating violence not seen in his previous outing. The film landed the number one slot opening weekend, but by the second week, ticket sales had fallen dramatically, though it still held onto the second slot (Paradise Murdered holding the no. 1 spot). It might be that viewers were troubled by Han's trademark jerky camerawork, the mix of lighter moments with the more serious aspects of the story, and a slightly overlong running time. The R3 DVD released July 30 by KD Media will as usual be anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs and feature optional English subtitles.

Posters, Photos, Production Stills, Trailers

Review (Russell Edwards for Variety)

Review (Darcy Paquet)

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