“The Age of Shadows” Korean Theatrical Poster
AKA: Secret Agent
Director: Kim Ji-woon
Cast: Goo Uoo, Song Kang-Ho, Han Ji-Min, Um Tae-Goo, Shin Sung-Rok, Seo Young-Joo, Lee Byung-Hun, Shingo Tsurumi, Kim Dong-Young, Park Hee-Soon
Running Time: 140 min.
By Martin Sandison
I remember going to see Kim Ji-woon’s A Bittersweet Life back when it came out, and thinking: This is something special. An artistic aesthetic, but with populist entertainment at its heart. I then saw The Good, the Bad and the Weird, and here was the apotheosis of his approach. Finally, his masterpiece, I Saw The Devil, veered into a dark, but ultimately rewarding territory. Unfortunately, his American effort, The Last Stand, sanitised much of what had gone before, despite the fact it was a fun watch. Now, Kim is back in South Korea with his most lavish production to date, one that carries on his vision, but also falls short in some areas.
Screening in the Glasgow Film Festival, Age of Shadows benefits from a big screen viewing, not least because of the riveting action scenes. Also the movie features some of the best male Korean acting talent with Song Kang Ho, Gong Yoo and Lee Byung Hun (in a cameo appearance) all sharing the screen.
Song plays Lee Jung-chool, a high ranking officer who has defected from the Korean resistance and takes his orders from Japanese overlords. Song finds himself being pulled back in to the resistance thanks to circumstance, his conscience and resistance fighters Che-san (Lee Byung Hun) and Kim Woo-jin (Gong Yoo). They both manipulate him into helping them, and thus sets in motion a plot with plenty of twists and turns.
With the bravura opening scene, Kim sets out his stall; action choreographed with the eye of a genius and complex character design conveyed through this activity. The show-stopping set pieces on show some of the most intricately designed in recent history, and make a case for Kim being THE action filmmaker of our time. What makes them special is the combination of tension, technique and character depth within each sequence. The centrepiece scene is on a train, and it is so crammed with the above, it bursts at the seams.
Gong Yoo shows much more acting chops than a pretty one-note performance in Train to Busan, with more noteworthy scenes, especially towards the end. Song Kang Ho proves yet again he is one of the best leading actors in the business, and tackles the development of his character with aplomb. Despite being a glorified cameo, Lee Byung Hun’s role is a pivotal one with his charisma intact. A mid-film scene, featuring all three is glorious, as they drink from a seemingly neverending barrel of wine – in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, this could have been the best thing about the movie; Kim handles each character and situation with such mastery that there are numerous stand out scenes. Special mention goes to Um Tae-Goo as Hashimoto, in a seriously creepy and physical performance as one of the Japanese officers. However, there are a couple of Western actors in small roles who come close to Hong Kong movie levels of terrible acting.
The gloss of the film can be a bit stifling at times (it’s the first Korean Warner Brothers co-production), with little edge compared to Kim’s greatest work, I Saw The Devil. Also, the opening half hour is pretty hard to follow, with multiple characters introduced and plot strands piling up.
The Age of Shadows certainly is an exhilarating ride, and has some thematic and historical depth. This approach is one reason why South Korea is making some of the best movies at the moment, and long may it continue.
Martin Sandison’s Rating: 8/10
I’m a year late to the party but I finally watched this over the weekend. I totally agree with your review, Martin, although for me this film rates actually a lighter higher! I was surprised to see so many Kim Jee-woon fans saying ‘Age of Shadows’ registered as a letdown because of how slick/formal/Hollywood it feels. I do agree it possesses all those qualities, but you’re absolutely right: show me a film from the last two years with better action sequences than this and I’ll gladly eat my hat.
I would say Dante Lam and Johnnie To are the only filmmakers in the same league when it comes to devising such intricate setpieces.
I’m 2 years late to the party, but just got around to watching this one. I think the lofty expectations of a Kim Ji-woon movie play a considerable part when going into ‘Age of Shadows’. While it’s easy to argue that his directorial style has lost its edge since his foray into Hollywood, I think the fact that the Korean film industry has also become much more commercial since his 2000 – 2010 hot streak, is just as much of a contributing factor.
It was great to see Ji-woon reunited with Song Kang-ho and Lee Byung-hun again after 8 years, and the brief bursts of action were stellar – I loved the opening chase with Revenger‘s Park Hee-soon, and desperately want to know how they achieved that all-in-one shot of Song Kang-ho jumping off the train (and it’s rare for me to see a shot these days that leaves me wondering “how did they do that!?”). However overall this felt more like a movie from a commercial director like Choi Dong-hoon (it would make a fantastic double-bill with the similarly themed ‘Assassination’), than it did a movie from the guy who made the likes of ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ and ‘A Bittersweet Life’.
Definitely a worthwhile addition to Ji-woon’s filmography, but at the same time a reminder that the edge Korean cinema had in the 00’s has lamentably been replaced by a more commercial approach. A 7/10 from me.
I thought Age of Shadows was pretty good. I do wish Lee Byung Hun had a larger role, and that the movie flowed more smoothly. I thought Assassination was a better movie since it kept track of the characters and had a more linear plot while getting its message across.
I guess my expectations were a bit much since I was expecting a WW2 version of A Bittersweet Life, but there were definitely a lot of parts that make me want to watch Age if Shadows again.
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