Yang Ik-joon’s debut outing as writer, director, producer and star is a laudable achievement, even though his scenario rambles. The seething product of a violently broken home, Yang’s pitiless thug meets his match in serially abused schoolgirl Kim Gol-bi. However, their friendship is fatally threatened by his father and her brother.
The byplay between Yang and Kim is exceptional, as they reconnect with long-suppressed emotions. But Yang allows the climactic action to descend into melodrama, with Kim mawkishly driven to self-harm. Nevertheless, his use of the mean streets and depiction of a debt collector’s grim routine and intimidatory tactics are inexorably authentic.
