Real (2017)

I could not believe I have watched REAL already, I've been dying to watch it to see for myself, how the movie is really. Why is that KSH mentioned it is a representation of his 20s while many fans are questionsing why he took the role. Also about the bed scenes, non-existing plot, bad directing, too long running time and being a bad move etc. So here's my take of the movie: 1. KSH's showed acting we have never seen from him before. I especially like his portrayal of the masked Jangtae young - the thub scene ; the cry laugh scene with the other JTY and the cry/laugh scene in the car - were my favorites. He reminds me of HIsuka's character in HunterxHunter. He was able to show the softness of the character perfectly. It truly is a work to be proud of. KSH is an actor - given a scary script which he knew he can play - and so he did. What a man can be he must be. He deserves a major award for this. 2. Bed Scenes - I would understand this is not something young korean fans would expect, well anyway the move is rated19. And for an adult film, the scenes were carefully shoot - the characters are extremist and so the bed scenes has to match the characters desires. The scenes were quick and obviously unreal (i mean why would other people even think it was real *** - and to those labeling it as cheap Bed scnes must be sleeping throughout the movie and just woke up and see the few seconds bed scene. ) 3. Non- existing plot - The film is not the typical A love B. C is the villain and D gets all the symapthy and wins in the end. KSH during showcase expected confusion from public and mentioned about watching the movie more than once.I think the film's aim is for viewers to share opinions and interpretation. I would need to rewatch the moview with better subs - there were many sub mistakes when `i compared it with the trailer subbed in english - i'd give the plot another chance then edit my review later. 4. Bad Directing - I must agree the action scenes were out of tune - there are a few impressive moves -nice attempt - but the raid scenes were weak. BUt the rest of the directing was not bad at all. 5. 2 hours running time - I didn not find it lengthy nor dragging, maybe because I don't mind watching kim soo hyun alone for hours and hours ,3 chapters are necessary for the script, I believe. For me it was just fine. 6. Other casts: there is nothing to hate about Suili, she did a good job. Suzy's appearance was ridiculuos it was not even for 2 sec. thinking she had the body tatoo done for 30mins just for that scene, or maybe they cut it bec of some reasons, and IU? I did not see her at all. 7. Overall: REAL is definetly not a bad movie, but I must say it is not everybody's genre. I look forward to watching it with better subs to give a more accurate review. But it is undeniable how great kim soo hyun acting was - watching his characters alone is worth it the plot is just a bonus. hehe. i would definetly watch it on BIg Screen more than once if only it will be shown in the country where i am at. I will still recommend the movie - let me know what you think. I certainly enjoy watching kim soo hyun for 137 minutes.

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Yes, Kim Soo Hyun did a great job but you can't overlook the damning lack of coherent story. While I could distinguish the different egos, by the end I was losing track of them. The filming overall was good and there are many beautiful scenes, but the action scenes (especially sound effects) were almost laughable. I wouldn't mind that so much if I could actually understand what the hell was happening. I thought by the end I would have understood a little more but it only became more bizarre. I normally enjoy films which are something dark and different but I have to be able to follow a plot, which this lacked. The acting is definitely not something to laugh at, which saddens me as they put on a great performance for a poor script. The soundtrack is your standard action movie with no notable tunes.

I would say if you're a Kim Soo Hyun fan then sure, have a go at it, but it isn't anything like a K-drama (nudity, drug use and violence), and you won't finish it with any more understanding than when you started.

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So yes, I began watching this for KSH but 2 hours of this director's navel-gazing was hilariously gruelling.

Some of my observations:
• Visually, it was gratuitous and self-serving. There were clear allusions to "deep" metaphors, but none of them were actually related to the plot or pushed it forward. They were just there because navel-gazing.
• Plot-wise, the director was quoted (and very obviously hinting throughout the movie) that reality is subjective, yet the movie retains its temporal quality and follows a chronological format instead of questioning time and space with narrative techniques, it just throws a lot of visuals at you in hopes that METAPHOR!
• Perception is not the same as reality. There are arguments that perception alters reality, but for the most part, the physical world follows a universal truth. If this story WAS entirely in his head, it would be a much more riveting movie than what it turned out to be. How can you challenge reality and exist simultaneously in the physical plane? This movie does not challenge anything. It tried to be art but ended up as a lot of visual polish on narrative turd.
• The acting is pretty good but that's hardly the problem here
• The story itself is not complex. It's extremely simple but made convoluted because INCEPTION!
• Just to be clear, I understood the story - but I did not like it. I thought it was extremely poorly executed and the point it was trying to make contradicted itself in how they actually made it.

EDIT// If you'd like to see a well-executed storyline that uses drug abuse/addiction to alter perception/reality, I suggest the Ep2, Season 4 of Sherlock (with Cumberbatch) and see how well they handle that subject.

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So, why two out of ten stars for this movie? Because the performances were really good so I had to give them that.

However, the story was ... hmm ... complicated. It didn't make sense most of the time and when it finally did, it just wasn't worth the two hours plus that were wasted watching it. Some of the mature scenes were, I guess, there to make it more edgy, but, for real, there were just unnecessary. The action scenes were okay and the visuals really nice, but they seemed to focus more on them than the story, which was just thinly spread through this lengthy film.

So, overall, two out of ten.

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For mature audience

I've noticed how low the reviews and ranting are So I thought I need to come here with help and add some more stars.
Story: You have to really watch carefully "Real" to understand. The plot isn't bad. A lot of action scenes which I've loved.
Acting/Cast: Definitely good cast. Both FL and ML did a good job. Obviously 김수현 오빠 took the role and acted professionally. And the behind the scenes are so funny haha.
Music: I usually remember all songs, melodies from kdrama OSTS, but when it comes to movies I rarely remember. Real" has subtle and intense melodies well matched to action.
Rewatch value. For me good.
Overall. Please review/rate this movie giving more stars after watching behind the scenes, huge effort was made especially in action scenes.

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Some of you guys are simply not ready for this movie.

     First of all, we need to talk about the acting... it was fenomenal. Focusing on Kim Soo Hyun, he definitely proved to be an incredible actor that can amazingly portrays different personalities. The plot (yes, there is one) is really captivating and it'll keep you focused on trying to understand what's going on. Unfortunately, there is an explanation for the bad reviews... It was really confusing. As I said, the plot is definitely cool, but they made some things kinda hard to notice, which made the movie not really enjoyable for everyone. If you expect to finish the movie and immediately understand everything that happened... that's probably not for you, but I promise that if you spend some time trying to complete the puzzle, you'll get surprised with how fascinating the story is. 

     About the bed scenes... well, we were all warned about it. I do think that some of them were a little bit unnecessary but it's not the end of the world. If you're used to watching movies from USA you've definitely seen a lot of scenes like that, so don't overreact about it simply because of the actors. They're adults but mainly, professionals.

     Also, if you're watching it from fansubs just make sure that the subtitles are actually loyal to what they're saying. I had to watch it twice because the first time was totally messed up due to bad subtitles.


At the end... Yes, it was confusing, but definitely a good movie with a great plot and really talented actors. It makes me sad to think that he and the rest of the cast received hate because of this movie. It could have been better with a more decent management but it's for sure not as bad as people claimed it to be. Just give it a try! And don't watch it simply because of the bed scenes... this movie really has a big crazy story to offer, just be ready to receive it and work with the puzzle pieces!

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Everybody saying there's no plot need to watch the movie again. There is, indeed and in fact, a plot. A rather intricate one. To which you have to pay close attention to all the details in order to not get completely lost. This is not the movie where you have the luxury of checking your brain at the door. Most likely you won't get it on the first viewing, so if you're the viewer who wants everything spelled out for you, don't watch this. This is not the movie for you.

I watched it once, then I had to watch it again immediately afterwards. On my second viewing I literally had to pause the movie, get pen and paper and map out the characters in order to understand all the twists and turns. It was worth it, as in the end I felt satisfied I knew who the REAL protagonist was (unlike most people who reported being frustrated with the ending).

Don't get fooled like the rest and think this is bad movie. It isn't. It's only bad to those who weren't able to figure it out. It's a movie that's true to its genre. What's interesting is that it follows traditional linear storytelling with three full acts - all the clues are actually given to you up front, but due to its intricate (though others might say convoluted) plotting, the narrative can appear jumbled and not so straightforward to the impatient eye. Like I said before, this is likely to breed frustration in viewers who like to be spoon fed each & every plot development. Moreover, if you're a prude and humans in their natural form offend you, you shouldn't be watching this genre because most of these films will have nudity in them. Most of them will treat women like accessories, rather than fully fleshed out characters ... because what do you know, most gangsters IRL don't respect women. Most gangsters just use women for sex and arm candy & that's it. Hardly, if ever, do women play a more significant role in the underworld's nefarious dealings. So don't watch films like these and then complain about nudity & the lack of odes to feminist ideals, OK? It makes you sound juvenile.

REAL may not have been a masterpiece, but for a first film from director Lee Sa Rang , it was a decent film noir; well worth the watch for lovers of the genre. I liked it. I thought KSH did a great job with his character & he was HAWWWT asf in this. Unlike most people I loved the fight scenes. KSH was totally badass in all of them! They had that superhero feel to them. I don't see why this movie garnered such poor reviews. There are certainly worse crime films out there.

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Most reviews said that the plot was terrible and the director was a try hard with the artistic effects and poor action scenes but I tried it anyways because I was craving some badass noir with lots of action and hotness.
Acting from Kim Soo Hyun was 20/10, I was very impressed. He deserves far more movies and he obviously can handle dark/serious material. The international market needs a man like him as well, hello people. Everyone fit into their roles so no issue there, it's just pathetic that the director didn't use them as well as he did with KSMH, and even there that's just because the man is talented enough to pull double his own weight.
The plot was so poor it took more than half of the movie before you realized the parts all of the leads had potentially and then the last 30 minutes before you saw the plot's protagonist, the drug. By then it was too late to see where the drug had been foreshadowed and was a bit of a wtf even when you did care to think about it. It was far too weakly intertwined throughout the story for its importance to the whole scenario. You were also playing around with two MCs and apparently a third aka the real's alter ego who kept on popping up without any reasonable explanation which just made it all more confusing.
The fake and real were poorly managed as in how strongly they were to lead the plot and their relationship with one another. It started off with it being all about the real which is expected, then drifted into it being entirely about the fake even though real should still have been significant considering how the plot progressed, and then the very last scene is a ridiculous spiritual moment between the two which is stupid because they were never allowed enough interactions to get to that point. Kim Soo Hyun was outstanding as both, but it was obvious that his "real" character had so much more drive as a CHARACTER just by how it was written compared to the fake, but he wasn't given enough screen time to live it up. The potential the two characters could have had was sadly disappointed.
The two good scenes were the real/fake bathroom scene and Sulli's last moments with the fake because of the personal interactions going on; very important aspects to any movie because the characters are the life of stories.
The explicit scenes were rather meh imo. KSH and Sulli are beautiful people and were v pleasing to watch together but it was either not enough or the chemistry wasn't given enough coverage.
The director seemed carried away in his fascination with drugged up realities so all his artistic shots reflected that, but that was also unimpressive because it was so obvious and almost exaggerated. Even his action shots were attempts at art ugh. He had many "symbolic" shots which were either so drawn out or obvious that it basically took effort to connect it to a story that lacked any plot depth.

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A subversive experiment ahead of its time

This has been touted as one of the worst films in South Korea and I highly disagree. I believe that this film is one of the foremost singular films to emerge out of South Korea in recent years . It’s a weird movie (definitely)but I foresee it being a cult classic in future years.

I will review, however ,and say that this is not a light nor agreeable watch. In fact - it may come across as frustrating , mind bogging and odd. Its non linear and uses dream sequences in a combative way but the enduring presence of Kim So Hyun makes the watch very palatable .I also do not think that this is a Korean Noir film as it is sometimes described because Real is completely divorced from the noir narrative . Instead , Real is heavily stylistic and its use of violence is elegant and graceful and not grotesque like a Tarantino film inspired by Hong Kong Noir. When one disregards the noir narrative , Real truly is a movie that explores psychological problems and the mental illnesses invoked by addiction.

Its portrayal of psychosis in the form of the Giovanni Mirror Syndrome is something very interesting and groundbreaking as a movie motif. Hence, a complete hats off to Kim Soo Hyun for being dynamism personified as the masked millionaire and gangster and victim of the syndrome. What range ! I read that Kim Soo Hyun wanted this film to be the “representative work of his late twenties” and, my word , did he deliver ! Its truly a role he can be proud of despite the negative reviews surrounding this movie. Moreover , the late Sulli was really quite astounding as Song Yoo Hwa. There is a scene where she is in the throes of addiction and Kim Soo Hyun's character who plays her lover is desperately trying to save her and the look in her eyes was so hauntingly tragic and desperate, perfect for the scene. These two were phenomenal that its a pity the direction was not.

I shaved a lot of points to come to a 6 because direction was not deft and lot of things were not explained or given cinematic pregnant moments . Direction was pretty puerile and the script had a lot of potential but the director just could not restrain himself and things got carried away and I was like 'huh ???!!"

In the end, it all came out as too experimental for a mainstream audience and budget which is dismal because with its budget it could have, at the very least,come out polished but even there-it failed. Its a pity - because this is BURSTING with potential but alas.

Though I do highly believe in 20 years - film enthusiasts will look back and say "Real was really onto something."

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This movie was a complete mess, with only the acting of Kim Soo Hyun that made it watchable.

Wow, what a terrible script. Nonsensical... and everyone who said you had to pay extremely close attention or watch it again to understand it MEANS IT IS A BAD MOVIE. I watched inception, thought it was an ok movie and the plot was easy enough to follow. This was purposefully vague because there was no good story to back it up. Mental illness and drugs are the bad guys. No subtlety at all.

The visuals are stimulating, but they can only get you so far when they relate to nothing. The movie is like watching a series of modern art paintings from a single artist but that has no context for the viewer to position them in.

I don't mind nudity or violence, and I love movies that are normally in this genre eg. Sin City. Here I thought the action senes were subpar and the nudity over the top. I did not believe the two main characters had feelings for each other at all. Sulli felt like she was an object of desire, and nothing else, and she said barely anything in the movie. If you asked me to describe any of the characters personalities I couldn't do it. I didn't feel anything for them because noone felt like a real person. There was no exploration of character, even though this is supposedly what it is all about!

One reason to watch - Kim Soo Hyun gets naked.

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It's worth watching

This movie left a lingering similar feeling to a :Tom Hardy movie + Guy Ritchie's Revolver + John Wick + Sin city (If one can imagine such a wibe)
Actors:
1) Kim soo hyun : very good work, unique(!, as in "never seen before such a gama of KSH's characters") acting. There have been a couple moments when I doubted him but let's not forget the difficulty of the role. I'm not gonna stop long on him as everyone praises his work here, and indisputable it is deserved praise.
2) I want to talk about cast in general: the movie is a surprising line-up of familiar faces ("veteran" actors) and they all did a decent job to portray their characters.
3) AND, of course, Sulli : Amazing acting. Most of her feelings and emotions she has to convey silently and there wasn't a moment I didn't catch the emotion she is transmitting or did I feel any falseness.
Somehow she felt even more natural than Kim Soo Hyun. Definitively much better than acting skills we see in KDramas' female leads.
4) Visuals and aesthetics: It is a beautiful movie even theatrical at times. Leads are amazingly beautiful, scenes as well, so through-out the movie expect the "theatrical scenes" colorful decorum etc etc. But honestly, some moments are really stunning, and are the reason I don't regret watching this movie.
5) Nudity and sex scenes: Too much talk goes around nudity and sex scenes.
Strangely, showing sex is blamed 100x times more than then extreme violence portraid (the movie is drenched in blood and killings etc.). At least the sex was consensual as far as I followed the story line :D. The movie is trying to be as ruthless as Oldboy or the Raid, at least I believe these 2 could have been an inspiration for the action scenes. To conclude... about the sex scenes: for a grown-up - I didn't feel it was too much. Plus this movie never promised to be "innocent".
Nudity: Yes, some details could have been hidden (breasts etc) all will claim but (BUT!) no-one accused Madalina Ghenea for a almost copy paste breasts exposure in The Youth. [and the youth has gathered so many awards, & even an Oscar nomination]. I am not sure what's with the stigma against nudity in Korea and in this movie but we have all seen much worse in movies and no-one had a problem with it.
The sex: Between the leads - I believed it helped to convey the substance and nature of their relationship. I am confused about the purpose of other sex scenes (not all) but some do not seem to add value to the story. For example, when walking on a glass ceiling the sex scenes below show the gravity and the dark business that was going on in this gangster world so it was ok and seemed relevant to me.
6) Lastly, Story-line: I am confused about the story-line. It wasn't all clear to me and I believe the film was cut in a way that disadvantaged the plot. I would find myself lost on numerous occasions which is a pity. The movie is criticized for being too long but honestly I wouldn't mind it to be even longer if it benefited the story. Lust, caution (2007 movie) lasts 157 minutes but oh my god it is worth every minute [btw, it also contains a intense sex scenes and I don't think anyone can blame those]. In case of Real, noticing how some of the scenes were so fast that I missed to catch what was going on there, it almost feels like the director was so compelled to make the movie shorter that we (the average visionary) lost the story-line. Overall, to me the plot and story-line is a failure. If I had to identify the inspiration - I'd say Inception. The movie tries to emerse the viewers in a some-what similar "it's all in your head" or maybe not "mind-game" but oh it so fails to raise to the Inception's level.

Final thoughts: I feel as if the movie was trying to reach the level of highly acclaimed movies mentioned above but it only lost focus and maybe it was a task too difficult for the team. I think it could've been that the target was set too high. Nevertheless, it is a movie with countless stunningly beautiful scenes and unprecedented characters these actors tried to portray. The actor's good work together with the line-up will pleasantly surprise you.

So, for point 1-5) - yes it is worth watching and it will be a surprise but please expect a "what did I just watch" feeling at the end.

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