An eccentric hit man resolves to kill only the rude and bad mannered in this genre-bending mélange of film noir, slapstick comedy and hyperbolic violence. A Korean Tarantino is born.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2007
No Mercy for the Rude 2006
Yeui-eomneun geotdeul
Riffing on Korean cinema’s fetish for ultra-cool, super slick gangsters (A Bittersweet Life) and brutal bloodletting (Old Boy), first time writer/director Park Chulhee delivers a genre-blending mélange of film noir, slapstick comedy and hyperbolic violence. Shin Hakyun is superb as the eccentric killer-for-hire, known only as Killa, and even though he remains stubbornly mute throughout, his wry internal monologue perfectly complements the determinedly wacky action. Resolving only to kill the rude and the bad-mannered, Killa takes on a series of jobs with the hope to raise money to fix his severe speech impediment. Park superbly balances the violence with dark humour, drawing absurd comedy from Killa’s struggle to balance his domestic life with his work duties, especially when a mysterious bargirl resolutely installs herself as his live-in girlfriend and a pesky neighbourhood orphan also moves in.
“If ever there were a Korean import… ready for the Tarantino seal-of-approval, this is it.” — Robert Koehler, Variety