[Movie 2015] Gangnam1970 /강남 1970(New Trailer p17)

[CallieP]

anuyoes said:

'Gangnam Blues' released uncut version, Lee Min-ho's taking off shirt scene and Kim Rae-won's sensational bed scene and more

The uncut version of movie, 'Gangnam Blues' has been released through IPTV.

'Gangnam Blues' said on March 19th, "We are releasing the uncut version through VOD service, which contains the scenes viewers could not see in theaters unfortunately".

READ MORE

Source http://sports.hankooki.com/lpage/entv/201503/sp20150319165330136680.htm

[irilight]

Coming to Drama Fever this weekend!



GANGNAM BLUES starring Lee Min Ho arrives Saturday, APRIL 18th on DramaFever Premium: http://1hop.co/oujcu/jqwhf/
Starring Lee Min Ho (Heirs) and Kim Rae Won
Before Gangnam's rise as Seoul's trendiest district, it was a poor neighborhood rife with corruption. Growing up as orphans in the thick of it, Kim Jong Dae (Lee Min Ho) and Baek Yong Ki (Kim Rae Won) become sworn brothers, but go their separate ways when Jong Dae is adopted by an honest family, while Seoul's most powerful gang recruits Yong Ki. Now deeply entrenched in the development war, both Jong Dae and Yong Ki fall prey to a scheme that could cost them not only their home, but their lives.

[Kris Silva]

Dramafever page for Gangnam Blues:  Gangnam Blues Page
And LMH's shout out :

[Soosee15]

Hello all!  Some of you may know me from the LMH thread here at Soompi.   :-h  I have been avoiding this thread because I didn't want to see any spoilers, hehe.   However, I just finished watching GB on Dramafever and all I can say is .. Wow.  :-O =D>
SPOILER: 

First, what I didn't like:  

--  it was a little confusing trying to keep track of the gangsters, who worked for who and such and I got really lost when they talked about the real estate and who was involved.  

--- related to above, I thought that there were too many characters and as a result, there really wasn't enough time devoted to giving us background on the main characters (how did Gil Soo get involved in gangs and with crooked politicians and what happened to his wife?).
What I liked:  
--- it was everything the Korean gangster movie genre has come to expect from Director Yoo Ha. Yes, it was bloody and violent and there were gratuitous sex scenes but that's to be expected from a genre with mature themes and also, it's a pretty accurate portrayal of gangster life, not only back in the day but now as well.  They're not Boy Scouts, lol.  
I thought the acting was superb, especially LMH.  I felt his pain every time his eyes welled up. And that ending .. sigh.    Although I went in a fan of LMH only,  I came out a fan of Kim Rae Won and Jung Jin Young too and will be looking for other movies and dramas that those two have been in. They were just terrific.  
I will definitely be watching it again.  
I do have a question - The legal document that Jong Dae found in the photo album that had him listed as Gil Soo's son, did Gil Soo adopt him and include him in is will? Is that what those papers were? The subs didn't tell us what they were, just a few lines on content.  KJD seemed stunned by what he read, that leads me to believe he didn't know.  

 
[Edit] Oh and DO NOT read the comments on Dramafever, especially if you are a LMH fan.  It appears that many of the people there did not bother to heed the "Mature Content, Adults Only"  warning and are complaining, loudly, about the violence and sex in the film (one unenlightened darling called it "satanic filth", lol).  

[CallieP]

@soosee15, yes, that is what the documents were, in answer to your question. I will watch it tomorrow morning. So looking forward to it. Zinnia had given us a sheet explaining all the characters. If you look at it before watching it again, it will make more sense. With dramafever, you can watch it again and again until you understand it. I plan to watch several times.

[Soosee15]

I just wanted to add one thing to my review ..
SPOILER

I felt very conflicted about LMH's character in this film.  He was not a good guy but he was also not a bad guy.  He had a soft side to him but he also did some really despicable things.  Yet, I still found myself feeling sympathetic towards him, especially at the end.  How does that happen when looking at the things he did?  I feel that is a testament to LMH's acting.  As I said, he was superb.

@CallieP - Thank you for that tip about zinnia.  I will look for her post with the chart.

[Kris Silva]

Soosee15 said:

@CallieP - Thank you for that tip about zinnia.  I will look for her post with the chart.

[CallieP]

I saw GB today and to me Yoo Ha created a masterpiece with this movie.The best critical review that is closest to what I feel is Pierce Conran. Yoo Ha hit it out of the ballpark. Yoo Ha should win best movie for GB. To me it was extremely well made. To me the violence and sex scenes fit in quite well with the movie. I thought it was artistic. The fight in the mud and in the grain store were well choreographed and fluid. The sex scenes were not superfluous .

I followed Zinnia's list and I could rewind and replay so it was not difficult to follow the different characters and the story.  The pace was exciting and never dull or boring.

The actors were excellent. Lee Min Ho should get the best actor award for his role. He played the role perfectly. He is convincing as gangster KJD.  I agree with LMH's assessment of his role. He said KJD is a sad character, and that Jong Dae did everything for his family.

KJD can be brutal and has a temper but will harshly protect those he cares for and he is fiercely loyal as well. I don't see him as being greedy or conniving and he is more of a gangster by circumstances but tough enough to succeed in his chosen profession. I would say he is not the typical gangster.  They say LMH is too handsome to play a gangster. Gangsters come in all stripes and LMH does fit KJD's persona, someone who is tragic, grateful, caring, loyal but who can be tough and brutal and vicious at the same time to his enemies.

LOVE IT! Bravo LMH.

[Guest humblebee]

@soosee15 I agree about being confused with the gangsters & politicians on the first watch. Although I did come out of the cinema feeling that it was a worthwhile 2-hour watch, I remember I still had a hard time grasping the gangster's relations, and who was working for who. When I watched it again for a second time, I was still a bit confused, but by the third watch, I could somewhat grasp it. I kept rewatching mainly to understand the relationships tbh (and also for the action scenes which were simply beautifully executed and filmedt). I'm the type of person who will get frustrated if I don't understand something, so that's why I keep rewatching  
Additionally, I feel like the good thing about this movie is that although I keep rewatching it, I don't get bored and even though I know already what was going to come up, I still get excited for every scene. I will never get over the mud scene. Man, that scene, combined with the actors' facial expressions, especially LMH's, the background music and the angles of the fight was pure amazingness. I seriously loooooved the emotions radiating from LMH then. 

That raw calm anger that escalated and exploded into animalistic ferociousness as he killed the rival gang members one by one, which also then suddenly changed into a tired, guilted expression when the fight ends and he looks around the entire place which was his father's final resting place.. Man, that was just brilliant on his part. I felt as if Jong Dae was recalling to when his father asked him if he knew why he wanted to get out of the gangster life. And as he looked around at the muddy area with all the blood and dead bodies, he understood it and felt regret for not listening to his father, who eventually got killed because of his actions that started it as well.

The actions stunts LMH pulled were soo gracefully ferocious too. It's amazing how his long stature can pull out action scenes so elegantly. He makes fighting seem so fun with the way he easily leaps into the air and strikes people down with an axe, or stabbing people with an umbrella lol.

I think the mud scene and Jong Dae & Yong Gi's confrontation scene are my favourites for this movie. Oh, and also the part where Jong Dae was getting rescued after his capture! The scene where he almost got strangled was another action scene where I found LMH's acting to be quite stellar.

By the way, I also watched the uncut version of this movie, unsubbed. It was only about 5 minutes (?) longer, but there were a few scenes in there that I felt helped the movie to flow a bit more better so I will admit that I did feel more satisfied watching the uncut version. There were also slightly different angles to some scenes, like Jong Dae's crying scene for example. But for this scene, I thought the angles placed in the final cinema version were better. 

I watched this uncut version unsubbed so there were some parts I could not fully understand, especially Yong Gi's parts. But there were parts I could somewhat understand too.

As we all know, Jong Dae had a shirtless scene with Min Madame and if I understood that scene correctly, I think it was through her that he found out about the situation/competition/fight between the politicians. That was something I appreciated seeing because I remember thinking that it was weird how Jong Dae suddenly could understand whatever was happening between the politicians and who to work for to help his family. I assumed he probably did some backwork to find out about it, but seeing it really happen between him and Min Madame in the uncut version made me feel reassured in some way that I was correct about my own assumption.

There was also a scene of Sun Hye getting abused & thrown out of her house by her husband after he found out about her father's capture, which was why she went to Jong Dae the first time. That again was another scene I appreciated seeing because it connected to how she suddenly appeared to where Jong Dae was staying, probably asking for a place to stay aside telling him what she went through?

I don't follow movies much, but I'm wondering, are director's cut usually the version that will be packaged into DVDs? I kinda hope so, and I hope there will be english subs on the DVD because I would love to buy it. 

[Soosee15]

@humblebee
Those 2 scenes from the uncut version I would have liked to see in the film because it would have filled in the blanks a bit.  

As I mentioned before, one of my complaints about the film is that it is feels like it's missing some details I wish would have been included to make the background stories a bit fuller.  For example, my previous question about Gil Soo's background and also, how did Sun Hye meet her boyfriend/future husband? She's poor, he's rich, where would two people from different social standings meet in 1970's Korea?    

Don't get me wrong, I loved the film.  I just think a few more personal details about the main characters would have made them a bit more "complete" and maybe those who dislike the film could have connected to the characters more.

 

[Guest humblebee]

@soosee15 I definitely agree with you.

I also wished they had elaborated more on Jong Dae and Sun Hye's relationship. I recall that the Director mentioned in one of the press/fan conferences that Jong Dae is actually in love with Sun Hye but can't act on it because he feels it would disrupt the family. And I did get nuances of that, for example through his facial expression in the scene where he first met Sun Hye or when he hid out of sight when Sun Hye returned home with her boyfriend. But I wonder if everyone who watched this film actually got it too - that Jong Dae's feelings for Sun Hye is more than just an adopted brother. So yeah, I feel like if that was elaborated just a tad bit more, the film would be slightly better and like you said, help the audience connect to his character more. Because that would explain the crazy rage Jong Dae flew into when Sun Hye landed in hospital. Sure, an older brother would react like that as well, but because we got nuances that he liked her, it would have been better if the film showed clearly more of his feelings for her, and that it was not just anger from a protective adopted brother. It's also anger from a pissed off man who dares abuse a woman whom he has feelings for. It would also make the ending even more tragic because the ending did show Sun Hye waiting for Jong Dae to return home. Like, hey, maybe they were making plans to live a better life, and Jong Dae could actually have had a happy ending with Sun Hye if he had not been shot ):

[gtLmh0622]

Soosee15 said:

[CallieP]

  humblebee said:By the way, I also watched the uncut version of this movie, unsubbed. It was only about 5 minutes (?) longer, but there were a few scenes in there that I felt helped the movie to flow a bit more better so I will admit that I did feel more satisfied watching the uncut version. There were also slightly different angles to some scenes, like Jong Dae's crying scene for example. But for this scene, I thought the angles placed in the final cinema version were better. 
Where can I find the uncut version of this movie. I would like to see those scenes. Thanks.

[CallieP]

@humblebee, at the beginning of the movie, three gangster leaders were talking to Secretary Kim. If you remember them then it will help you keep track of what is happening. The first time I could not remember their names, seeing that part the second time made everything clearer about who is who. Remember their faces and their names. It will assist with understanding the flow of events.

[CallieP]

I like LMH's hairstyle in GB, and the brown leather jacket. He looked so cool in that outfit and with that hairstyle.

[Jyunko Kurosawa]

   Korean Film News

 KCSNY to Stage Korean`Emerging Talent` Showcase

 new York will play host to a series of films showcasing the talents of new Korean directors. Staged by the Korean Cultaral Service NYand Asia Society,the `Emerging Talent` series will run from April 14th to May 27th.

  Beyond new directors,the series will also shine a spotlight on LEE MIN-HO,who took on his first leading film role in this year`s gangstar thriller Gangnam Blues from YOO HA.

   the weekly,screenings will take place at the Asia Society in Manhattan and will be free of charge

                    by Pierce Conran       Apr 08  2015

[Kris Silva]

http://asiancinefest.blogspot.com/2015/05/gangnam-blues-reviewed-free-screening.html

GANGNAM BLUES reviewed 

Gangnam is an area of three districts, or local wards, in southeast and south Seoul that is known for its expensive real estate. It came to international attention with the 2012 release of the song "Gangnam Style" by South Korean singer Psy, which became not only a mega-hit  but also a viral video. But Gangnam was not always a wealthy, trendy area, nor was it originally a part of Seoul proper.

Gangnam Blues, as several title cards indicate at the beginning of the film, takes place in the 1970s when it was little more than a shantytown and farmland area. Two gangs, the Yeongdeungpo (YDP) and the Myeongdong (MD) sought control of the real estate which politicians had earmarked for Seoul's necessary expansion.

Jong-dae (Min-ho Lee) and Yong-gi (Rae-won Kim) are two young men who met when they were in an orphanage and who eke out a living as rag-men picking up and selling discarded clothing and such things on the streets. They come to get work for a gang that is going to trash the convention of the Peace Party. During the melee, they get separated and Jong-dae, unable to locate Yong-gi, comes to the conclusion that he is dead. Such is not the case, but rather the two come to be aligned with rival gangs.

As each group seeks to obtain the upper hand in the acquisition of valuable real estate, violent confrontations, shifting alliances, and dastardly betrayals occur on both sides. Jong-dae and Yong-gi meet one-another in these circumstances, and whether or not the brotherhood that they had previously forged will prove stronger than the claims of their rival gangs is a major plot point.

Gangnam Blues is a smart and welcome addition to an already impressive roster of South Korean gangster films. (For an excellent article on the evolution of Korea's gangster cinema, see Samuel Jamier's "Boody Ties" in the May/June 2015 issue of Film Comment. It's part of a 30 page midsection on South Korean movies in that issue.)

The two leads are very good in their roles, as are the numerous older actors who play various politicians and gang bosses and under-bosses. There are several very good action set pieces, including a massive one that takes place in the rain at a funeral.

AsianCIneFest Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; very good, highly recommended.

[PeerNorway]

"Gangnam Blues" aka. "Gingham 1970" will be out in a two-DVD set on 27th. May (2015) in South Korea (and Taiwan). This will contain the 135 minutes shorter edit - not the 141 minutes uncut/un-edited version. Hopefully they do the 141 minutes uncut version when it comes out on Blu-ray....

[CallieP]

 

"Gangnam Blues" aka. "Gingham 1970" will be out in a two-DVD set on 27th. May (2015) in South Korea (and Taiwan). This will contain the 135 minutes shorter edit - not the 141 minutes uncut/un-edited version. Hopefully they do the 141 minutes uncut version when it comes out on Blu-ray....

​Do you know if there will be director's cut as well?

[PeerNorway]

@CallieP, I am not so sure I understand your question. But I can tell you that yes there is a Director's cut released (which is about 6 minutes longer), but there are no news of any DVD or Blu-ray with that Director's Cut version yet.