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No Blood No Tears (2002)

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This year’s KOFFIA festival opened with a bang, with director Ryoo Seung-wan presenting his huge hit from last year, The Unjust — an action thriller in which policemen, prosecutors and property developers are caught in an endless cycle of corruption. A couple of days into the festival, as part of their Bloody Friday match-up, the KOFFIA team programmed another Ryoo film: 2002’s No Blood No Tears.

As with the opening film, director Ryoo himself got up on stage and … (read more)

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Arahan (2004)

(from , dir: )

If you like movies with secret masters, ancient villains, fearsome fu-skills, and buckets of butt-kicking action, then look no further: Arahan is here.

The film opens with five of the Seven Masters, bemoaning the fact that they’ve got no new disciples to learn the hidden arts. You can tell the tone of the movie immediately: several of the Masters are wearing daggy tracky dacks, and one smokes continuously. This movie does not take itself too seriously.

When we meet the … (read more)

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