A Bittersweet Life

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Movie: A Bittersweet Life
Revised romanization: Dalkomhan Insaeng
Hangul: 달콤한 인생
Director: Kim Jee-Woon
Writer: Kim Jee-Woon
Producer: Lee Yoo-Jin, Oh Jung-Wan
Cinemotagraphy: Kim Ji-Yong
Release Date: April 1, 2005
Runtime: 120 min.
Genre: Action / Gangster
Distributor: CJ Entertainment
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

Gangland boss Kang (Kim Yeong-Cheol) suspects his girlfriend of being unfaithful and sends his trusted right hand man Sun-woo (Lee Byung-Hun), to sort out the problem. In an uncharacteristic moment of weakness, Sun-woo falls for Hee-Su (Shin Min-A), taken in by her grace and humanity. When Sun-woo finally catches Huei-Su with her lover, he finds himself unable to kill her and allows her to flee. This infuriates Kang and order his thugs to savagely beat him and leave him for dead. However, they do not finish the job and when Sun-woo eventually revives himself, he has nothing but vengeance on his mind.

Notes

Premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

Cast



Lee Byung-Hun	Shin Min-A	Kim Young-Chul	Hwang Jung-Min	Kim Roe-Ha
Sun-Woo	Hee-Soo	Mr. Kang	President Baek	Moon-Suk



Kim Hae-Gon -	Eric (Moon Jung-Hyuk)	Oh Dal-Su	Lee Ki-Young	Jin Goo
Tae-Woong	Tae-Goo	Myung-Goo	Oh Moo-Sung	Min-Gi

Additional Cast Members:

Kim Han - Se-Yoon
Jeon Kuk-Hwan - President Baek
Kim Sung-Oh - Oh Moo-Sung's subordinate
Lee Han-Sol - Oh Moo-Sung's subordinate
Kim Su-Nam - back shoulder
Park Jin-Woo - Cheol-Moon
Jung Yu-Mi - Mi-Ae
Choi Chang-Kyun - Mr. Kang's secretary
Oh Yoo-Jin - waitress
Kwak Min-Ho - lounge employee

Trailers

Image Gallery

Array

Awards

2005 (25th) Critics Choice Awards - November
- Best Actor - Lee Byung-Hun
- Best Music

Comments

Comment #4
Peter Says:
May 06 2012 11:39 am

One of my favorite movies!
Highly recommended.
Comment #3
Wanny Says:
Nov 23 2011 6:15 am

the ending is quite important. The part where he is shadowboxing against his own reflection is symbolic to his character, it shows that his personality is only a 'reflection' of what others think of him. you notice his reflection disappears before the credits appears, that is the fight against himself he lost. His ultimate demise was the result of this own judgement.
Comment #2
Jane Says:
Apr 23 2011 5:32 am

I don't think the end is stupid,
I don't understand the end.
Was everything that happened a dream,
or if it is only a flashback.
Comment #1
Pippoffside Says:
Mar 30 2010 1:52 am

The end is kind of stupid ...