Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Prashast Singh Movie: A Bittersweet Life (18)Rating: 4/5I've previously said this: Kim Jee-Woon is my favourite South Korean director and Lee Byung-hun, my favourite South Korean actor. Thus seeing their combo once again after the mindblowing action thriller I SAW THE DEVIL, I was excited to see this movie. And I was highly impressed with this standard of filmmaking. Not every director manages to achieve what Kim has, through this film.A BITTERSWEET LIFE is an example of cinematic excellence which is beyond imagination. The film's quite entertaining, of course but it touches a chord down there in your heart: eventually making you feel for the lead character. Lee Byung-hun plays it very well like he does in most of his films. He's a master actor and this needs to be said again and again as everyone knows.Director Kim's direction deserves a special mention as without his powerful, imaginative and creative vision, the film won't have achieved what it did. From the screenplay to editing to action to dialogues to performances: there's nothing that will disappoint you actually. The action sequences are mindblowing and have the "classic" tag all over them. You'll love to play them on loop, and I'm not joking. Seriously. The film's dialogues too are a major strength and there are many you'll remember forever. A BITTERSWEET LIFE is indeed a masterpiece and Kim's gift to the entire world. Watch it, you'll love this action drama for sure. Make sure to catch it on a Blu-ray.

Adam Peters (78%) Kim Ji-woon's super cool crime thriller is one of style, delicate beauty, combined with touches of harsh violence. The plot overall is a pulpy gangster staple, yet it's still very well told as every single scene actually is and feels important, and for something as polished and slickly flash there's very little excess fat or filler anywhere to be seen. Byung- hun Lee fits the role of a wronged icy cool, take-no-nonsense, manager of a gangster run restaurant like a glove; while the sweet romantic touches are brilliantly incorporated in this hard-edged tale of blood and revenge. The pacing during the first half is a touch too limp, but once it gets going this is hugely involving, entertaining, and satisfying watch.

George Clarke I first bought A Bittersweet Life not knowing what to expect, but was already in love with Korean cinema!I hadn't heard of its star Jeong-min Hwang, and the DVD wasn't giving away much. Then I watched it. And I was blown away!A Bittersweet Life quickly jumped to the top of my re-watch pile and I was telling everyone I knew about this awesome movie.Leading star, Jeong-min Hwang is Korea's Chow Yun Fat without a doubt. Handsome, fantastic actor, and great at action (further seen in his Hollywood debut - the p*ss poor GI Joe movies), Hwang is a star!His role in A Bittersweet Life just confirms that, and instantly earns him fans as viewers become hooked by him in this incredible film.I can't praise it enough and don't want to give anything away. Just see it before Hollywood remakes it and no doubt messes that one up too!

MalliMovieDon I sat down to A Bittersweet Life wondering how long I would be able to watch it. Not being a big Korean film aficionado and having not watched a huge amount of subtitled films, I didn't know what I would make of this. It didn't take me long to realise I was watching something special...Gripping, clever, dramatic and sometimes funny (in a dark way) this film has clever action scenes, grit and more emotion than you could shake a stick at. From very early on you actually care about Kim Sun-Woo even though we don't find out all that much about him. His motives are always driven by events around him and conflict with everything he had ever experienced and that makes him vulnerable, even as he breaks more than a few bones.This film is right up there among the best I've ever seen and it sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it. Watch it if you love watching true class.