Movie: A Dirty Carnival
Director: Yoo Ha
Cast: Jo In-Seong, Cheon-Ho Jin, Nam Hung-Min, Lee Bo-Yeong
Rating: ***
When a hardworking and loyal gangster (Byung) finds it hard to rise up through the ranks, he finds an opportunity to clinch his position by killing his boss. Anything for the need of the hour is dharma. When an aspiring filmmaker (Min-Ho) decides to make a film on real gangsters, he seeks the help of his childhood friend, now a gangster, to make a film with ‘true gangster spirit’. To make his film as realistic as possible he features true events from his friend’s life. Anything for the need of the hour is dharma. “A Dirty Carnival” is a solid gangster flick based on the philosophy by Chanakya – ‘Anything for the need of the hour is dharma’.
In another film, we would’ve seen the gangster’s rise, in all its gritty, glamorized glory. But Yoo is instead interested in the more personal side of this story, and so we watch as Byung struggles to come to grips with violence, family and friends. He is torn in between his criminal aspirations and his love and devotion for his family. He beats his own brother when he sees him hanging out with a group of local hooligans. Not because he’s heartless, but for the fact that his family is all he got and he doesn’t want his brother to make the same mistakes he did. No matter how much Byung loves his family, attends to their needs, his mother is constantly worried about his safety, and he about theirs. It’s a family that wants to be together but can’t and that makes them one unhappy and worried family.
Byung has another family outside his real family. It’s his local mob family. He teaches his boys the need for unity, his underlings, is to share the same table and wild karaoke parties. He takes care of them as his own family, trains and teaches them that in gangland impressions are better than empty stomachs. When he makes some extra money, he asks his boys to buy some good suits and spend the rest on anything they desire.
There’s also Byung’s complex relationship with his two childhood friends – Min-Ho the filmmaker and his childhood crush, who is now working in a bookstore. She’s not ready to accept Byung as a gangster, while Min-Ho takes advantage of him. Byung wants to get close to her, but she avoids him. He genuinely helps his friend in the making of his film, but is not paid due credit. When Byung watches his friend’s film, scenes we’ve watched are replayed with a different touch. Only this time it’s a movie within a movie; it’s a clever touch, as are the winking commentaries about the non-reality of modern action cinema.
Stuck in an emotional turmoil with his family and friends, Byung still proves himself as a loyal gangster. Always ready to do anything for his boss (senior most), family and friends. There’s so much energy, either from the violent fight sequences or from Byung’s emotional journey, that not even a packed-too-tightly screenplay can dampen the eventual mood.
This is not a gangster flick with action interspersed throughout. With its emotionally extended and sluggish narrative, at times it’s boring, but eventually packs a strong punch.