ThereвЂ™s some amazing Wild West set pieces crossed with that glorious Eastern style action mayhem. Jee-Woon Kim has made darker and more engrossing human cinema ( A Tale of Two Sisters and I Saw The Devil) but this is pure adrenaline filled eye candy and masses of fun. Not that they share much similarity, but their high energy fusion of genres with plenty of overt comedy and over the top action seemed to strike a chord with Western audiences. This was sort of viewed as KoreaвЂ™s answer to Kung Fu Hustle. The film did extremely well on the award circuits, but given Jung hasnвЂ™t made a film since (2014) one wonders whether the controversial subject matter has derailed her career somewhat, because that would be a tragedy for someone with such a strong Auteurs eye. Once Young-NamвЂ™s sexuality becomes public knowledge in the village, the view on her temporarily вЂfosteringвЂ™ Do-Hee is viewed far more suspiciously. The film gets a little darker as it progresses, occasionally becoming uncomfortable to watch, but ultimately is an engrossing character study of two characters (one of which a troubled young girl) connecting in a backwater part of a society that has outdated views on same sex relationships. The girls mother painted as a psychologically disturbed woman who abandoned her family and also the village itself. In her new post she soon discovers a young girl being domestically abused by her father and grandmother, and seemingly ostracised from the local community.

July JungвЂ™s feature debut is an emotionally engaging drama, which sees a disgraced (having been вЂoutedвЂ™ for her sexuality) former Seoul police officer (Doona Bae) who is transferred to a remote sea-side village to run the department there. The more вЂiconicвЂ™ work I suppose, seems male dominated. IвЂ™m well versed enough in Korean cinema to know of a deep history of female directors.

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