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Nostalgic 'Raging Years' Looks Back at Violent Times

By Joon Soh
Staff Reporter
Veteran director Im Kwon-taek's 99th film "Haryu Insaeng (Raging Years)" is a look back into the past, both the nation's and his own. Telling the story of the legal and illegal doings of gangsters during the 1950s and '60s, the film is filled with social criticism and palpable nostalgia, two divergent sentiments that often find themselves in conflict with one another.

Of the two, nostalgia is definitely the strength of "Raging Years"; it's as if we're watching the recollections of the 68-year-old director brought to vivid life. While many recent local movies have tried to recreate post-Korean War South Korea, Im combines his own memories with a filmic one derived from the 50-odd movies he made during that period.

With elaborate city sets and costumes that could have come straight out of one of Im's action films of that time _ complete with gangsters dressed impeccably in suits and fedoras and a cinematography that feels both wooden and lush _ "Raging Years," or its first hour or so, is a entertaining tribute to a bygone cinematic era. The film focuses on the experiences of a young thug named Tae-woong (Cho Seung-woo), who rises to power in the crime world and later in the construction business handling government contracts.

In between, Tae-woong also tries his hand at becoming a film producer, an excuse for Im to show the lively but wild atmosphere of the local film industry back in those days, which results in some of the more fascinating scenes in the film.

The rest of the film, however, feels like a Cliff Note version of the first two parts of "The Godfather" movies. Though far less financially successful than Al Pacino's Michael Corleone, Tae-woong transforms himself to survive the changing times, from a criminal who abides by a ruthless but pure code to a "legitimate" businessman whose practices are equally criminal but more underhanded.

Im tries to draw a parallel between these two worlds, and lays much of the blame on the government. And like the recent "Hyoja-dong Ibalsa (The President's Barber)," the film uses re-creations of historical moments throughout. (The scenes showing the coup d'etat by Park Chung-hee are almost exactly the same in both films.) But ultimately, "Raging Years" suffers from too many gaps in the plot and too little character development to make a coherent case.


- Haryu Insaeng (Raging Years) -
Starring: Cho Seung-woo, Kim Min-sun and Kim Hak-jun
Director: Im Kwon-taek
Length: 1 hour 45 minutes
Rating: 15 and over
Language: Korean

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