Night in Paradise

Premiering at Venice film festival last year, Night in Paradise left a mostly positive impression on those lucky enough to catch the screening. This, together with the fact it was directed by Park Hoon-jung, marked it as an item of interest for us genre fans. Well, now that it has finally been released worldwide, I'm glad to say that the wait was worth it. It's not top notch in every aspect, unfortunately, but the overall feeling is that of satisfaction.

This is a prestigious looking gangster drama in the vein of modern Korean genre hits like A Dirty Carnival or A Bittersweet Life. It begins with Tae-gu, a right-hand henchman for gang boss Yang, commiting an act of violence against a rival gang. Since Yang didn't approve it, Tae-gu is forced to leave for Jeju island to lay low and await further orders from the boss. There he also meets Jae-yeon, a lonely girl suffering from a mysterious disease...

This initial setup contains many elements you may have already seen; a brooding young gangster, slick and treacherous gang bosses about to start a war, knife-wielding action, a potential romantic partner and so on. It's all familiar, but rendered with a lot of care by Park, who is becoming an increasingly refined visual stylist. In terms of plot and pacing, however, there are a few setbacks. The story is presented in a low-key fashion with bursts of violence sometimes verging on extreme. This creates an interesting dynamic given that it demands more patience than a typical gangster film would. On the other hand, some scenes do seem drawn out as a result. Add to that the film's long-ish runtime of approximately 130 minutes and you have an uneven mix of brutal action and quiet drama that won't be to everyone's taste.

Personally, I'd say it's peculiar enough to seem fresh, but it also ticks all the expected boxes that lovers of Asian crime thrillers anticipate. Thus I believe that many of you will be satisfied by much of what it has to offer, be it melancholic ruminating or intense action. The latter is demonstrated in some great looking setpieces that will keep you on the edge of your seat, so don't think Night is just about staring into the sunset with a cigarette in hand.

Overall, this is a solid crime thriller that marks another successful entry in Park's genre-based filmography. Give it a chance.

Amazing writing, directing, cinematography. Will definitely win awards at the end of this year. I'd put it down as one of the best movies since 2020 started.

My girlfriend and I gave it a standing ovation in our bedroom.

READ: If you are too lazy to read subtitles, any films other than those of your native language are NOT for you. It changes the whole dynamic/experience. I wouldn't dare to hear some crappy voiceovers on a masterpiece such as this. Any low reviews you see are the pawns who watched it dubbed, which shouldn't ever be done to any movie, in any language.

I desperately guessed that the best Korean crime flicks were history, after the terrific wave of the early 2000's: bloody, gritty, brutal and so moving in the same time. I won't repeat the list, there were too many of them. And since several years now, we had to puke watching so many craps, more than the Hollywood garbage junks, with plenty of action and those damn F...HAPPY ENDINGS that I neraly forgot what the korean film industry was. But now, I can breath again. This film is a real hit in the groin. Awesome. I spent one hour sending mails to my friends, ordering them not to miss this jewell, at any cost. I will continue the whole day.

Night In Paradise is yet another good movie coming from South Korea. This country releases good movies over and over again. Not every Asian country does that but South Korea is definitely the best Asian country when it's about quality movies. No overacting here, all solid performances from the entire cast. You have to be able to indulge some violence though, hardcore violence, the Clockwork Orange kind, the ultra violence. It can be very bloody and violent but it's a mob movie so what else do you expect? It was all very well directed, great cinematography as well. I'm not surprised anymore when it comes from South Korea. In fact I search for those little gems now coming from there. The list is too long with solid movies from there. Night In Paradise is a long movie but it never fails to entertain, from beginning till the end.

It's a dark, sad och gritty story about gangsters, violence, revenge, backstabbing and death. They actors did a great job and I absolutely recommend this movie.