Seoul pimp Han-gi sees a girl, Sun-hwa, sitting on a park bench and goes up and sits next to her. He can't seem to take his eyes of her, but does not approach her at first, he just sits there. Once her boyfriend arrives to pick her up, Han-gi is about to leave but turns back and forces himself on the girl, grabs her and kisses her against her will. Some policemen arrives at the scenes and breaks them apart, holding Han-gi down and telling him to apologize to the girl, something he won't do. The girl spit on him and walks away, out of his life. Later on, Han-gi frames Sun-hwa for stealing a wallet filled with cash and the wallets owner demands she him pays a huge sum of money or he will go to the police. Since Sun-hwa has no money, she agrees to give up her body if she can't pay back her debt to the man, and eventually she has to do so as well. She is brought to a brothel, run by Han-gi, although she's not aware of that, and have to start a life in prostitution.
Kim Ki-duk have made some fascinating movies, that always carries this realistic feel to them, and that also takes a lot of energy to watch. Bad Guy is definitely hard to watch at times, since the story has some really cruel things to it and gives the viewer a feeling of misery that's hard to shake off. Even though the movie's kind of brutal to watch at times (like most of Kim's movies), it's also a joy to watch at other times as well, and manages to balance negativity/positivity, the feeling of good/bad really well.
Just the way this movie starts out makes you wanna see what happens next. It's really intense in the beginning and things come totally unexpected. Then it turns really tragic and it's hard to watch this nice girl having to become a hooker, and see all the shite she has to go through in the beginning of her new line of work. It kinda makes the viewer feel a lot of hate for Han-gi, and it's really hard not to. But then things kinda change around since you know that he was interested in her to begin with, and why he's doing the things he does is because of his obsession for the girl. Of course that does not justify his actions, but the further the movie goes the more sympathy you actually feel for the guy, how strange it even may sound.
 
When Sun-hwa first arrives at the brothel, she has to learn the business and has to go through hell with men violating her every day. At the same time, Han-gi watches her through a two-way mirror and gets to see her sleep with other men day out and day in, and get to see her wallow in misery. You know that he's really into the girl and that it must be hell for him as well to sit there and go through what she's going through. But he never shows any emotions, and never says a word, he just sits there and watches.
He actually never speaks expect for a little bit towards the end of the movie. On the other hand, it makes it somewhat more interesting, and you can still figure the guy out pretty well, that is with expressions, actions, and the acting of the character itself etc.
Bad Guy is not a movie for everyone, it's not slow but for some it will sure seem like it. It's a very serious movie that makes you think, and even if some stuff is a bit hard to stomach at times, it's actually kinda rewarding to watch.
The movie has a lot of feeling to it and it's hard to not be touched by it. For instance, you know that Han-gi feels something incredibly strong for Sun-wha, still he lets her go through everything and just sits and watches it happen, but it's easy to tell that he's affected by it. Another thing is that in the beginning you feel a lot of sympathy for the girl, but somewhere along the line she learns to like her new job and becomes so good at it that she's a threat to the other hookers. That's also a very weird thing to see and emotions start to take a different turn.
I could go on giving examples as there are plenty to choose from but that's for you to discover.
It's hard to pick one, but this is probably the best movie from Kim Ki-duk that I've seen. The acting is brilliant, always is though, and it's quite a gripping story that actually stays with you long after the film has ended. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of Korean cinema.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Nabbeun namja
MOVIE YEAR: 2001
DIRECTOR: Ki-duk Kim
WRITING CREDITS: Ki-duk Kim
GENRE: Drama, Thriller
CAST: Jae-hyeon Jo, Won Seo, Yun-tae Kim
COUNTRY: South Korea
RUNTIME: 100 min
RATING: 9/10
Bad Guy Website/IMDB Click here
Bad Guy Trailer Click here
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