The Hollywood studios may have stayed away from the Cannes Film Festival this year, but the South Korean majors certainly showed up in full force. Byun Sung-hyun’s “The Merciless,” is the second of two Korean entries to unspool in Cannes’ Midnight section, after fellow crime flick “The Villainess” (read our review). Beyond their shared genre profile, the two efforts couldn’t be more different; every action set piece in Jung Byung-gil’s female-centered effort finds its opposite in the clean, comprehensible fight choreography of “The Merciless.” Despite some pacing issues in the film’s last stretch, Byun’s polished gangster film satisfies the big-budget itch that’s otherwise absent on the Croisette on this year.
Ostensibly a Korean take on “The Departed” (and of course, HK original “Infernal Affairs”), “The Merciless” pulls out enough narrative swerves to remain engaging. Fresh-faced Yim Si-wan portrays Hyun-su, an undercover cop who serves as the right hand to charismatic gangster Jae-ho (Sul Kyung-gu, known for his early collaborations with Lee Chang-dong). The film jumps back and forth between two timelines, the past covering Hyun-su’s prison term — where he meets Jae-ho — while the present present kicks off with the elder criminal picking up his protegé from jail when his three year sentence concludes.
At first, the shifting tenses work to tell the backstory of the core friendship that drives the film, but each flashback brings a twist that recasts the allegiances between characters. In the background are the efforts of the police to apprehend high-ranking mobsters and intercept a large-scale drug-smuggling operation. Visually, “The Merciless” is snappy and elegant, whether the camera is navigating a prison yard in a smooth Steadicam shot or choreographing a coherent, brutal twenty-man brawl in a warehouse. Jae-ho’s cherished red Ferrari stands in as a solid symbol for cinematographer Cho Hyoung-rae’s approach — flashy but efficient. Never quite going full Scorsese (one nightclub long take almost approaches Copacabana territory), director Byun shows just enough restraint to evade parody.
On more than one occasion, Jae-ho intones his signature mantra: “Don’t trust people, trust the circumstances.” A pre-credits prologue involving peripheral characters sets up the character’s reputation, intimating that the absent Jae-ho is one to kill his enemies while looking them straight in the eye — right before a Russian hitman emerges out of nowhere to take out one of the two men. Even with that idealism and ruthlessness established, Sul Kyung-gu never plays the character as a mustache-twirling baddie and always floats the possibility that his nurturing of Hyun-su is sincere to the point of career-threatening vulnerability.
Conversely, the youthful Yim Si-wan might have been cast for his K-pop good looks (literally — he’s a member of the band ZE:A) but nonetheless serves as a convincing and worthy foil for Sul’s underworld boss. Indeed, it is their chemistry that brings credibility to the curvy narrative of “The Merciless,” no reversal playing as overly ridiculous thanks their convincing cross-generational friendship.
Just like “The Departed,” all of the dramatis personae become embroiled in the deception, including ruthless top cop Chief Cheon (Jeon Hye-jin), who coerces Hyun-su with the promise of a kidney transplant for his mother. For all intents and purposes, the only female character — albeit in a position of power — might as well be one of the boys, and Byun is in very different territory than his previous effort, rom-com “Whatcha Wearin’?” (also known as “My PS Partner”).
Four-quadrant appeal is far from director Byun and vertically-integrated distributor CJ Entertainment’s minds, with interpersonal relationships between men taking center stage in “The Merciless.” There is nary a hint of romance to be found, and the prison scenes in particular are marred by a phallocentric sense of humor (all boners and jerking off). Despite Jae-ho’s assertion that South Korea is a progressive country, the homophobic dude culture of criminal and corporate families can come off as more repugnant than the violence at times.
As with most Korean actioners, “The Merciless” overstays its welcome by a solid 20 minutes, wallowing in melodrama and excessive catharsis, a comparable trend to the seemingly endless spectacles that cap off U.S. blockbusters. To its credit, the final act’s carnage and curveballs do serve to solidify the film’s moral quagmire, allowing no one to emerge unscathed.
It’s not perfect, but mainstream South Korean entry “The Merciless” is well-executed and serves as a refreshing addition to this years’ Cannes lineup. It’s perhaps not a huge step-up to those already well-versed in recent Korean action cinema, but sturdy direction by helmer Jung Byung-gil, restrained hat-tips to genre films past and the well-paired male leads keep “The Merciless” from feeling like the summation of more famous films. [B-]
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