Shiri (1999)

Shiri demostró que en Corea del Sur había una industria en ciernes a tener muy en cuenta.

Shiri, en mi opinión, es una obra clave para entender la transición del cine surcoreano hacia una identidad propia en el cambio de siglo.

En un momento en que la industria local buscaba alejarse del cine de autor estancado y competir con Hollywood, Shiri apostó por el cine de acción, tomando como referencia blockbusters como Speed o las clásicas buddy movies de los 80, pero aportando una capa extra de visceralidad emocional y física, así como un enfoque narrativo más sombrío y humano, distintivo de la cinematografía del país.

La película no está exenta de defectos —agujeros de guion notorios, giros previsibles y clichés que rozan lo caricaturesco—, y el uso excesivo de la cámara al hombro en ciertas escenas de acción le resta claridad y fuerza visual. Sin embargo, logra sobresalir gracias al magnetismo de dos actores que entonces despuntaban: Choi Min-sik y Song Kang-ho, cuyas interpretaciones aportan peso a una historia que, aunque imperfecta, mantiene el interés hasta su (bastante cursi) desenlace.

En cualquier caso, fue también una excelente carta de presentación para el director Kang Je-gyu, quien más tarde consolidaría su carrera con éxitos como Lazos de guerra o My Way, demostrando ya aquí una notable ambición técnica y comercial. Dejó claro que, con el talento y la determinación adecuados, cualquier tipo de cine era posible en Corea del Sur, algo que quedó patente en los años sucesivos.

Mi nota: ***

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Korean films started to shine only recently compared to its fellow Asian countries. Swiri (or Shiri) is one of the films that started the South Korean cinema peek.

Despite the mega huge cast and great premise, I was actually a bit reluctant about watching this film. South Korean films started to shine after the millennium so watching something prior to that date is very risky but considering Swiri’s year of production (1999), it was a pretty cool film about a very appealing theme: The North and the South. I tend to adore productions about that theme; they always leave meaningful messages behind. This one didn’t disappoint.

Being a thriller, Shiri handles some plot turns wisely while others were plain predictable. Many “twists” didn’t surprise me at all. I don’t know, maybe because this is 15 years old so smart screenwriting didn’t actually hit hard but it wasn’t very fun to predict many turns of the plot. It’s not that serious though, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying this film to the fullest. Being a film about the two Koreans gives it too much potential to hit many important elements. I hate reviewers who compare this to some Hollywood films; this handles a very personal issue about Korea so it has nothing to do with the US’s filmmaking.

The other side of the coin is action; there were some pretty cool action sequences although I clearly saw some imitation to Hong Kong’s heroic bloodshed genre. I find nothing wrong with that because it added a delicious flavour to the action making of Korean thrillers. It was a pretty violent film and very up to my taste; brutal and pleasant. However, Swiri is not all about action; there were many dramatic moments and even romantic ones. It contained a good variety of genres to enlighten the mood, even the politic parts weren’t any complicated. I like entangled political clashes especially with the Korean peninsula issue but I know that many would find that very boring to follow. Fortunately for them, the plot followed a very simple political approach.

The acting was A class with both big stars Han Seok Kyu and Choi Min Sik ahjussi’s leading the film in the most stylish way ever. Beside them was another big Korean star Song Kang Ho ahjussi who succeeded in playing a supporting yet a well-crafter role. The characters weren’t that deep to be frank, they’re your usual action films’ leaders with great shooting skills and some intelligence to keep them going. But they didn’t feel shallow either, they had some interesting personal traits that made them feel memorable.

The cinematography was actually pretty good for a 1999 film. The explosions were alright but some of them felt completely fake, I can be lenient toward that because the director handled his camera angles and action scenes in a satisfying way.

Watch if:
-You like Korean thrillers because this is one of the films that started it all.
-You like Action thrillers.
-You like films about North and South Korea.

Do not watch if:
-You dislike Action thrillers.

Shiri is a remarkable Korean thriller considering its production year. It has potential to bring you immense entertainment if you appreciate recent Korean Action-Thrillers.

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