Gangnam Blues (2015)

	Also Known As: Gangnam 1970
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Ha Yoo
	Actors: Min-ho Lee, Rae-won Kim, Jin-young Jung
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Thriller, Polar
	Conditions of visioning: 30.04.2015, Blu-ray
Synopsis: In the 1970's Seoul, Politicians and rival gangs fight each other for the control of the suburb area of Gangnam which will develop frantically in the next few years.
Review: Where I learned that the Gangnam that singer Psy put in our heads is the name of a Seoul suburb. Further learning about the story of its rise is what motivated me to watch this gangster movie. Also I like the 70's period. I think the main flaw in this movie is that it contains too many lead characters but didn't take time to introduce them properly, nor to differentiate them physically or with their names. You know it is difficult for us westerners to set apart two young shaved good-looking Korean guys with the same haircut and similar-sounding names. Apart from that the movie looks good and the 70's period is nicely displayed on screen. We get to see the expected rivalry between gangs and the fight scenes are as violent as they should be. But as I was already lost between the different characters, I got even more confused between the several gangs and the intricate plot the politicians and bosses put in place to beat the others to the game of real estate investment and neighbourhood control. I lost interest in the movie when I realised I didn't care about the characters anymore but just wanted to know how it would end: historical facts about the Gangnam suburbs I can find on Internet.
Rating: 3 /10