Hwanghae (2010)

English title: The Yellow Sea

A Chinese national of Korean ethnicity is in deep debt and is offered a hit job in South Korea as a way to settle it. His wife is down there and has long stopped making contact with him. He takes the job but everything does not go as planned.

This second feature by the director of The Chaser has some of the virtues of that film, namely, energetic direction, excellent performances, and a touch of gritty realism in the screenplay. Some thematic elements are very relevant today, as ethnic minorities in Ukraine and Crimea make the headlines. The film's problems, however, outnumber its virtues. Despite the realism in some details, a huge inverisimilitude prevails through much of the film. By the way, a similar combination of realism and inverisimilitude was, to a lesser extent, also a characteristic of his previous film, but here it simply goes out of control. Another feature of The Chaser which is present in The Yellow Sea is the plot's complexity. However, what was a virtue there becomes a vice here, thanks to the lack of a sense of proportion. It is nearly impossible to follow all the details of the plot, especially in a single viewing, and, what is worse, this exercise in deciphering just does not add to one's enjoyment. The user reviews and discussion boards at IMDb are useful for understanding some plot details and they offer very pointed criticism too (some liked the film more than I did, though).

Rating: 48