This is one of the best films to have come out of South Korea. Yang Ik-Joon is a tour de force here wearing any number of caps at any given time. You get the feeling that he’s been here, done that, and this is his catharsis.
The story itself is very simple, and to be direct, ugly. Even the “ugly” cinematography is beautiful because it’s all unified. A humble statement on how the sins of our predecessors are not easily left behind, it is made profound in its execution.
