The Yellow Sea

Here director Hong-jin Na looks beyond Hollywood’s horizon of expectation and makes the outsider cliché contemporary with a story initially living deep within kitchen sink reality then mutating into an extreme explosion of blood and blades. Our protagonist, Gu-nam (Ha Jung-woo), is a Korean-Chinese living in an autonomous region of China. We're transported to a unique corner of the world but there is much more here than elaborate wrapping. An underclass on both sides of the Yellow Sea, the watery divide between these realities, Gu-nam is forced to become an assassin to save his family and wipe his moral and financial debts.

There are imperfections: the story comes close to unravelling towards the finale and a little more film should have been left on the cutting room floor. The gear change may be disconcerting for some, the violence excessive for others, but those with an open mind and strong nerves will come out hyped with adrenaline and thinking ‘this is a movie!’ [Alan Bett]