The Age of Shadows (2016)

* This was South Korea's official submission for the Best Foreign Language Oscar of 2016. There were four, notable SK movies released in 2016 and this movie was the one officials felt was the best to submit....boy were they wrong. Both "The Handmaiden" and "The Wailing" are simply superior in just about every reguard.

* The movie is not bad by any measure, it's technical merits (cinematography, acting, production design, etc) are all great. The movie has a great stoic, 1920s feeling to it. And Song Kang-ho is outstanding (no surprise here). This was clearly well planned and organized by top workers in SK. It just didn't have a strong story behind all the great acting and camera-work.

* It's the story that feels just a tad underwhelming. It ends up going exactly where you expect it to (with a few MINOR surprises along the way). But right from the get go, you know where this one is heading. And it's this predictability and makes the 2 hours and 15 minutes feel a bit long.

* When all's said and done, this is a good movie from South Korea, but not great. It's not among the all time greats (and boy there are a lot), and it's not even the best movie from South Korea in 2016. But if you are a fan of period dramas (this one is light on action), then this is something you should check out.

Fmovies: I caught this film by pure chance tonight on BBC 4. What a great film. It held my attention throughout. Written well, directed well and acted well, I found myself totally pulled into the story. The set design and costumes of 1920s Korea were brilliant too. Superb film. 9/10

The plot of the story has been limited to death, the preliminary paving is good, and the later turning points are really awkward.

The Age of Shadows fmovies. An espionage thriller about loyalty and honor, set in the 1920's South Korea during the oppressive Japanese occupation with palpable suspense throughout and a thick atmosphere of paranoia. It's stylized, but it still feels like Kim Jee-woon's most mature and refined work so far, which speaks to his excellent abilities and versatility as a filmmaker. Kang-ho Song's performance is phenomenal as usual, the cinematography was amazing, the costumes and set design were wonderful, and there's some memorable scenes throughout. The Age of Shadows takes a patriotic approach but ultimately, this thrill-filled film is entertaining as much as it is greatly crafted.

A period drama pierced with elements of action & thriller that's polished in all filmmaking aspects and manages to be a tense, riveting ride for the majority of its runtime, The Age of Shadows maintains its gripping aura for the first two acts with its cleverly constructed & palpably tense cat-n-mouse premise but falters during the final act that feels a tad too drawn out & melodramatic. Worth a shot for the impressive set pieces it has in store.

I am pretty sure in South Korea this movie will score higher than I rated it. When it's in your own language it's always easier to follow. And Korean is not a great language to listen to when you're not understanding it. It's sounds like they are always angry when they speak. The movie is nicely shot though. But the major problem I had with it was that it was too long and it took a really long time to become interesting. You could easily cut out the first hour of the movie where nothing major happens. I started getting bored actually. But the second part of the movie is way better, I would say from about where they are in the train. If the whole movie would be at that level of intensity I would have scored it higher. Most of the actors were good, some a bit lesser. All in all it's worth a watch. From the Asian movies I watched the Koreans are for sure the best ones.