On this latest episode of the podcast in which an overrated and underrated film within the same genre, style or tone are pitted against each other, the hosts of Over/Under Movies take a look at two examples of the Asian action picture. I made the picks this time, and couldn’t resist this genre which is chock full of great stunts, bloodshed and visual grandeur. As usual, I’m joined by fellow Playlist writers Oktay Ege Kozak and Ryan Oliver.
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Hong Kong action director John Woo made his bones on ’70s kung fu films, but it was in the ’80s when he codified his distinct, dove-filled style of balletic action choreography. With 1989’s “The Killer,” starring his favorite leading man Chow Yun-Fat, his status as perhaps the most daring and bold director of action really began to take hold (“Hard Boiled” in 1992 would be his peak). But it’s my pick for the overrated — I argue it’s not aged well and often unintentionally goofy — and this week we’re comparing it against a more modern work from South Korea, “A Bittersweet Life.” From Kim Jee-woon (“I Saw The Devil” and “The Good, The Bad, The Weird“) and starring his most frequent leading man Lee Byung-Hun, “A Bittersweet Life” is an absolute jolt, employing age old noir/gangster tropes against a fresh background that mixes quite well with a “Taxi Driver“-esque violent retribution. The film has never received proper U.S. distribution and beyond singing its praises, we all hope that can change soon so more of you can find it easier.
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It’s great to alert us to films we may have missed or that are under the surface [underrated] but it’s sort of pointless to toss older films under the bus in order to promote another film you feel is better. It’s contrarian film reviewing, which doesn’t move film criticism forward. Just an opinion.
Hey MM, thanks for your comment! Totally hear you, and agree with your points overall, but that’s rarely how episodes of this podcast play out 😉
We always try to dig beneath the surface of simply calling something over or underrated. It’s not really about throwing one film under the bus to promote another, but more an examination why one film works better for us than the other, especially when they have similar elements (whether they have a good or bad reputation, etc. is really just the setting for a deeper discussion, at least we hope). Basically, it’s more complicated than you make it out, but I understand why it may seem that way on the surface.
Completely fair point. My issue tends to be that when discussing a movie that is overrated the argument ends up being against those who overrated it or against a favorable opinion rather than discussing the actual movie. Know what I mean? It can end up being an argument that is more about what others have said rather than what the filmmaker has done. But I will give your podcast a listen because I’m sure to learn something.
Thanks for giving us a shot 😉
And good call on the Sirk connections. Never knew that Woo was a fan of his, but that does make sense. Of course the melodrama is on purpose, but that doesn’t necessarily make it good, you know? Either way, it’s an important point to make that totally helps elucidate Woo’s style.
Only just noticed on about my fifth viewing that that the hotel Kim works at is called “La Dolce Vita”, Italian for the sweet life, not sure if its shown any earlier but I noticed it at the climactic shootout. The attention to detail in this film is one of the many reasons why it’s special.
Good call! Noticed that too on this recent viewing. Glad to hear some others have found this awesome movie.
If you spiced podcasts with transcripts it… well, you know 🙂