• Feb 11
• THE PRESIDENTS LAST BANG: Review
• Posted by Deljhp - 11/02/09 at 12:40 AM

Director: Sang-soo Im. Review: Adam Wing.

Good morning class, now it’s time for a lesson in history. In 1961 South Korean president Park Chung-hee came to power and ruled for 18 years with near dictatorial power, if the truth be known, he wasn’t a popular guy. Which probably explains why, in 1979 Park was shot dead during yet another private dinner function at The Blue House. Assassinated by his own team of staff no less, like I said, he wasn’t a popular guy. But before you consign yourself to here and now, let’s consider the facts. With this true life tale director Sang-soo Im has delivered a stylish, humorous and rewarding drama with top draw performances and sweeping camera work. If history is best left in the past then it’s time to make The President’s Last Bang part of your future. Just for the record (yes folks, just one more history lesson before I go), the R2 release of the film is shown in its original cut. Four minutes of documentary footage had to be cut from the Korean version due to concerns over lawsuits and political party pressure. The same can be said for the French and U.S. versions, which means we can now enjoy the movie the way it was intended. Class dismissed.

Jae-ho Song (Memories Of Murder, May 18) stars as President Park, but his role is a comparatively small one, the film may well depict his final hours as leader but Sang-soo Im is far more interested in showing us the perspective of the would-be assassins. Yun-shik Baek (Save The Green Planet, The Big Swindle) plays the part of KCIA Director Kim, his co-conspirator is Agent Ju, Suk-kyu Han (A Bloody Aria, Shiri) who gives the film its most rewarding performance. When we first meet Ju he looks like he belongs in an altogether different movie. Smooth, enigmatic, cool as a cucumber, Jerry Bruckheimer has been making films for Ju his entire career. But then, maybe that was just the Pete “Maverick” Mitchell shades. As the film progresses Ju reveals shades of his own, shades of honour and humanity, a testament to Suk-kyu Han’s performance, who is quickly becoming one of Korea’s finest actors. The opening act introduces us to a lot of different characters and the experience can be a little perplexing, especially as very few of them make a lasting impression. It isn’t until 36 minutes in that the film actually feels like it’s going somewhere, the assassination is wrapped up and the remaining movie concerns itself with the aftermath and subsequent fall out of that evening’s earlier endeavour....Continue reading review.

Presidents Last Bang Trailer