Discovered at the Berlinale, Kill Bok-soon finally lands on the platform Netflix. Katanas, hemoglobin effusions and recalcitrant teen, this is the explosive cocktail of this brand new Korean action film.
Mother by day, killer by night
Gil Bok-soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is a single mother, completely abandoned by the education of her daughter entering adolescence. At least on the day... Since once in the evening, the very wise Bok-soon turns out to be a ruthless pawning slayer to pay for one of the country's most prestigious agencies: MK. Unmatched control of katana, firearms and bare-handed combat, the mother of the family excels. Until you fan the lusts...
Byun Sung-hyun, the 42-year-old director, is already the father of five feature films, the best known of which is Without mercy in 2017. A film noticed in Cannes, rather well received by the critics and already at the time qualified of « tarantinesque ». It's not with Kill Bok-soon that he will get rid of this adjective...
Tarantino Korean?
In fact, until the title obviously making eye to eye Kill Bill and to his killer in a yellow suit, Kill Bok-soon several levels on the side of Tarantino. The alternation of long dialogues with scenes of ultra-stylized violence, of course, but also the multiplication of references to cinema (up to the excellent Deep End of the Skolimowski for the pool scene), her passion for martial arts and her non-linear narrative. A kinship that the director would probably not deny, but that he manages to emulate without making a pastiche. But after all these compliments, we inevitably have to move on to the part that is angry...
Overcut missed?
The opening scene sets the tone: Byun Sung-hyun's cinema is ultra stylized (this intermittent lighting through the passage of a train, the use of debulled planes, the misty atmosphere of this impoverished industrial area, etc.), and comes to titillate the eye. At least in the action scenes. Indeed, as soon as we return to the interactions between Bok-soon and his daughter, the staging becomes much wiser. Almost banal...
Crushing lighting, simple field-counterfields, bill worthy of a korean dramaWe understand that the director wants to extract the spectator from the fascination for the image to plunge him into the dialogues, and thus establish a visual continuation of the dichotomy of Bok-soon's life. Interesting, at least first... Since the feature film, which still lasts two hours twenty, the process will become a repetitive hair and lose its consistency...
Verdict
Despite the criticism of the length, which could be attributed to many Netflix productions (The Gray Man, Luther: Desolate Sun, In the West nothing new or Glass Onion, which are all more than two hours), and too many digital effects (we are tired of computer hemoglobin), Kill Bok-soon convinces easily. And maybe thanks to his particularly successful casting, Jeon Do-yeon in mind! He also has the merit of dynamiting the recipe for the traditional action film, and just that, it feels good.
Another film that's intriguing! Thank you, Kilian!
I want a homemade edition! 🙂