“Asura: City of Madness” Korean Theatrical Poster
Director: Kim Sung-Soo
Cast: Jung Woo-Sung, Hwang Jung-Min, Ju Ji-Hoon, Kwak Do-Won, Jeong Man-Sik, Yoon Ji-Hye, Kim Hae-Gon, Kim Won-Hae, Oh Yeon-A, Kim Jong-Soo
Running Time: 132 min.
By Paul Bramhall
The gangster genre has long been a much beloved staple of the Korean film industry, and if ever a movie knew it was a gangster flick, then it’s Asura: City of Madness. Going down like a cocktail made with half testosterone and half gratuitous violence, director Kim Seong-su’s latest feels like a punch to the face, the kind that leaves you picking your teeth up off the floor. Reuniting with his muse Jung Woo-sung, Asura: City of Madness marks their fourth collaboration together, with Joo-sung having previously been directed by Seong-su on Beat, City of the Rising Sun, and Musa: The Warrior. The pair clearly work well together, with Beat widely considered to be the movie that put Woo-sung on the map, a whole 20 years prior to their latest, and Musa: The Warrior easily qualifying as one of the greatest Korean movies ever made.
Seong-su took a decade long break from the film industry after the 2003 comedy Please Teach Me English, returning in 2013 with the epidemic flick The Flu, and so Asura (as I’ll refer to it from here on in) can be considered his sophomore effort since his return from the wilderness. What quickly becomes apparent is that his latest is also his most angry, with the 130 minute runtime seething with violence and sweat from start to finish. During its opening scenes we’re introduced to characters who are already backed into a corner and desperate, in a mental state which most other movies would gradually build up to, but here we’re on edge from the word go.
Woo-sung playa a corrupt detective, one that’s started taking regular pay cheques from an equally corrupt mayor, who’s intent on redeveloping the rundown fictional town he presides over. While Woo-sung’s motives may be pure – he has a terminally sick wife in hospital – his quick temper and arrogance ensure he’s always on a knife edge, acting like the human equivalent of a kettle which is about to boil. In the initial setup we learn he’s a week away from quitting the force, with intentions of going on to the mayor’s payroll officially. A spanner is thrown in the works though when he accidentally kills a fellow cop (Yoon Je-moon, in an intense cameo), which gives a highly strung prosecutor the leverage he needs to pit Woo-sung against the mayor.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, he essentially spends the entire movie attempting to ensure the mayor doesn’t get suspicious, while looking for a way out of the stranglehold the prosecutor has on him. The roles of mayor and prosecutor provide a reunion for The Wailing leads Hwang Jung-min and Kwak Do-won. While Jung-min has been one of the busiest leading actors in Korea in recent years, headlining the likes of A Violent Prosecutor and Veteran, his role here is most reminiscent of his turn as the eclectic gangster in The New World. All pursed lips and clenched teeth, he is one dimensionally evil, and prone to conducting discussions with no pants on, but his onscreen charisma works for the character. Do-won on the other hand is back to playing the role of a suited lawman that he does so well, as seen in the likes of The Berlin File and The Attorney.
The term Asura refers to a form of God which varies depending on the religion. As its Korea, it’s a safe assumption that it’s most likely referring to the partly demonic Gods that populate Buddhist texts. Associated with negative feelings like anger or pride, the Asuras in Buddhism are constantly fighting, and are one of the lowest forms of supernatural beings. This descriptions fits in well with the three central characters, and in some ways the setup is reflective of the same concept that was explored in Hong Kong’s Sha Po Lang franchise. However there is no elegant choreography on display here, with the frequent violence being of the down and dirty variety, as faces are repeatedly punched into a bloody pulp, and bodies are ran over until they’re a lifeless mess.
Asura contains nasty people doing nasty things to each other, however Seong-su manages to balance on that same knife edge, just stopping short of making it such a punishing experience it’s no longer enjoyable. Considering how unlikable everyone is, Woo-sung does a worthy job of bringing the audience on-board to his plight. His character is a bastard, there’s no doubt about that, but by being placed in a predicament you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, you begin to hope he makes a clean break. Woo-sung has developed into a fine thespian in recent years, turning in impressive performances with the likes of Scarlet Innocence and The King. While Asura doesn’t give him much room for nuance, firmly placing him in the type of physical role found in Cold Eyes and The Divine Move, he still makes a connection amidst the barrage of cursing and yelling.
The look of Asura is suitably grimy, with many of the wheeling’s and dealings that take place happening in the narrow corridors of dilapidated buildings and on the rooftops, which makes for a welcome change from the overly used glossy Seoul skyline. The cinematography also adds to the claustrophobic feel, through its constant close-ups of whoever’s engaged in a more than likely unpleasant conversation, capturing every intense glare with an unwavering lens. The trauma of the events is literally there for all to see on Woo-sung’s face by the end of the movie, as it gets cut, bloodied, and bruised in a variety of confrontations, including a scene with a blanket which rivals a similar one with Bae Doo-na in Sympathy for Mr Vengeance.
Credit should also be given to a car chase that takes place mid-way through, which has Woo-sung pursuing a group of thugs. Not so much for the chase itself, but for the fact that he acts as possibly the angriest driver that has ever been put on film, yelling at the top of his lungs for the whole duration. The sequence contains a fantastic one-take shot, which has been created digitally (similar to Wu Jing’s underwater sequence that kicks off Wolf Warrior 2), but still makes for a visually striking moment. The whole runtime is interspersed with these neat little visual flourishes, often framed in such a way that provide extra emphasis to some sort of impact, with Yoon Je-moon’s demise being the perfect example.
As you’ll have likely surmised by this point, Asura is not a subtle movie. Everything feels like it’s cranked up to eleven, somewhat feeling like a 130 minute finale of a grander tale. However Seong-su makes this work to its strength. There’s not much characterisation beyond Woo-sung being screwed, Jung-min being evil, and Do-won wanting to catch his man, but the predicaments that the trio are placed in are too darkly entertaining for it to matter much. The fact that they’re backed up by a solid supporting cast only elevates proceedings. Joo Ji-hoon is a particular standout, as Woo-sung’s partner that finds himself under the mayors wing, playing a role as far from his turn in Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds as one can imagine. The ever reliable Jung Man-sik, from the likes of Inside Men, also clocks in a memorable role as one of Do-won’s colleagues.
By the time all the key players appropriately descend on a wake for a dead associate, the scene is set for everything to go straight to hell, and go to hell it does. Throwing in a finale that rivals Soo in the sheer volume of blood that gets spilled, Seong-su delivers a protracted sequence that would no doubt receive the Chang Cheh stamp of approval. The antithesis of those movies that resort to CGI blood, here so much of the fake stuff is used that people start slipping over in it. While nobody will be expecting Asura to have a happy ending, the ruthless death count that take up its final minutes takes on a remarkably, if not entirely unexpected, nilhistic approach. In a tale which goes out of its way to show that nobody is innocent, Asura finds Seong-su guilty of crafting a darkly cynical slice of macho noir. As for if everyone will be able to enjoy it, well, on that one the jury is still out.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7.5/10
I’m glad you reviewed this one, Paul, because you enjoyed it a fair bit more than I did, and you raise some good points that 1.) make me realize I may not have given ‘Asura’ enough credit, and 2.) will encourage the kind of folks who might be interested in a film like this to seek it out.
For me, the macho posturing on display was delivered in such an exaggerated manner that the movie’s tone continually veered in and out of black comedy. I couldn’t quite grasp director Kim Sung-Soo’s point of view on this material, so more often the film’s rampant corruption and eagerness for brutality came across as a parody of a Korean crime thriller.
I suppose I would have liked it more if he had played it straight, but there’s no denying that ‘Asura’ has one hell of a finale. It took me back to the heroic bloodshed days of yesteryear, even though nobody in this sequence is particularly heroic! I read online that cinematographer Lee Mo-gae also shot ‘I Saw the Devil’ – he must have felt right at home during that ending.
Zack, you should paste your review here.
Cheers Zack! It’s certainly a relentlessly cynical ride, and for that reason won’t be for everyone, but the narrative pulled me in with the way it placed Woo-sung in such a hellish situation, and how on earth he was ever going to get out of it.
I agree that the lack of characterization made parts of it comes across as an exercise in onscreen brutality, but as I mentioned in the review, for me it just struck the balance and managed to remain entertaining throughout. While it’s never implicitly stated, it felt like Woo-sung edges towards at least trying to do the right thing (as far as the restrictive situation he’s in will allow) by the end, and I liked the arc between him and Joo Ji-hoon. It felt like a little ray of humanity shone through amidst the bloodbath.
And yes, no surprise at all that it was the same cinematographer as ‘I Saw the Devil’, he has a fantastic eye for capturing violence and grimy locales.
I normally hate movies where all the characters are assholes, but this one has me intrigued. It sounds like even if no one is redeemable, that there’s a purpose to it, and they’re not just bad for the sake of being bad (except the main antagonist.)
Action-wise, is Asura more like A Bitterweet Life or Friend? I imagine it strays past the likes of Man From Nowhere and Man on High Heels.
Hmmm…that’s a tricky question. If we say that ‘A Bittersweet Life’ is more gun heavy and ‘Friend’ is more knife orientated, then I’d have to go with ‘Friend’. The violence is very scrappy and desperate, making the likes of what you see in ‘The Man from Nowhere’ and ‘Man on High Heels’ seem stylized in comparison.
I think you were right on the money, Paul, when you mentioned ‘Soo’ in your review, as that might be the closest example to the sort of scrappy, dogged, ‘survive at any costs’-style action at the end of ‘Asura.’
Interesting to know. I find that even the “scrappy” Korean films seem to have a “bloody ballet” quality to them where even though nothing is flashy, there’s still an artistic merit.
I found a stateside release for Asura on Amazon, so I’m glad I don’t have to pay 30-40 bucks for the import DVD.
This crime thriller is quite amazing. The car chasing scenes are some of the best cuts in the years. It’s compelling in the sense that the acting is nothing less than powerful in this film. Asura is surely one of the best ganster flick I have ever watched.