TheGodling
Los Ingobernables de Sala de Cine
Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them. A talented Korean-born Japanese police officer, who was previously in the independence movement himself, is thrown into a dilemma between the demands of his reality and the instinct to support a greater cause.
The movie is out now and features an all-star cast consisting of Song Kang-ho (Memories Of Murder, The Host), Gong Yoo (Train To Busan, The Suspect) and Lee Byung-hun (I Saw The Devil, A Bittersweet Life). The title is a nod to Jean-Pierre Melville's classic noir Army Of Shadows (about French resistance fighters during WW2).
Although the movie is not as great as Kim's other works, it's still an intense thriller full of brutal violence and scenes of pure suspense. Like many Korean movies it throws you right into the fire so it requires a lot of attention to make sure you know who's who, especially with much of the plot revolving around the question who could be a traitor.
Also, Kim Jee-woon consistently shows he's one of the finest action directors working today, with his dynamic camerawork swerving from rooftops to the ground and jumping into close-ups like it's nothing, catching every bit of the visceral action happening on-screen.
