Love Goes Ballistic

Shiri (1999)
Why has it taken me so long to see this film?

Shiri was a major blockbuster in South Korea. Its style and production values were unlike any other Korean film made before it. An action film that could go head to head with the best that Hollywood could offer. Its success practically redefined the South Korean film industry into the confident outward looking and perhaps most exciting source of movies in the world today.


Plot Synopsis (courtesy Of Tartan Video): When special agent Ryu of South Korea's secret service fails to prevent the death of an arms smuggler turned informant, he instinctively suspects the involvement of Hee, an enigmatic sniper from a North Korean terrorist group. A skilled master of disguise, Hee has previously assassinated many government officials but since managed to disappear, escaping the unrelenting pursuit of South Korean agents. Now it appears that she has returned…

Er... Hold on a minute! There's much more to it than that! Ryu doesn't only have to deal with the deadly female sniper...

He also has to find the rest of the crack North Korean terrorist group - they have stolen a super explosive and are going to set it off in Seoul as part of some mad plan to reunify the North and South. Choi Min-shik (of Oldboy fame) is excellent as the leader of the terrorists. Ryu's wife to be is played by the lovely Kim Yoon-jin (Sun in Lost), a role that is both physically and emotionally demanding.


A very long 'making of' documentary (DVD extra) demonstrates what the cast and crew had to go through to create this gruelling action film. Guns, explosions, fantastic chases, fights and bullets, billions of bullets (take a nod John woo). At the heart of all this hyperactive mayhem though is a love story, a really well acted melodrama that is bound to get lost in any Hollywood remake.

[Before you ask, a Shiri is a type of Korean fish that, upon reunification, will swim freely between the North and South]