Die Bad
Action-maestro Ryoo Seung-wan launched onto the Korean cinema scene in 2000 with this sensational debut that was made on a budget of just 65 million won (£45,000) over a period of three years as four short films that were then woven together.
In these four different parts, the film follows how the lives of two young men - Suk-hwan (played by Ryoo) and Sung-bin (Park Sung-bin) - change when Sung-bin accidentally kills another student in a brawl in a billiard room. Sung-bin spends seven years in jail, and is then sucked into the criminal underworld, while Suk-whan becomes a cop.
Bristling with energy and full of Ryoo’s kinetic flare, Die Bad is a gritty but immensely gripping film about the challenges faced by youth and the deadly spiral many find themselves in.
35mm screening. Recommended: 18+
Screening as part of the London Korean Film Festival On Tour - see the full film programme here.