MIFF MOVIE REVIEW: A HARD DAY



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Go Geon-So is a corrupt cop, but he is not a killer. One rainy night, being late to his mother's funeral, he runs over a man with his car and kills him. With no witnesses in sight he hides the body in the boot. The events start to escalate when his car is stopped for breathalyser check and his office is raided by internal affairs. Insure which problem to solve first our hero goes deeper into the web of lies until he puts in jeopardy himself and everyone he knows. When someone starts to blackmail Go Geon-So, he has no other choice but to face it all in one bloody and grotesque showdown. Let the Hard Day begin!

The direct translation of this film is "Take it to the End" and is better suited to this relentless thriller that will captivate you from the first opening shots. Every separate element of A HARD DAY is not original, but together they come as unpredictable and terrifying patchwork, making it a very unusual film. You may not feel sympathy for the protagonist, whose endless troubles are mostly the result of his own doing, but you can't help applauding his sense of humour and invention he uses to pull himself out of each impossible situation. You rarely see a movie that will be cheered on by the audience so much as A HARD DAY.

I guess the benefit of the film is that Go is such an unlikely hero. He only has loyalty for himself, with his sole weakness being his little daughter. Even his rough colleagues and partners in crime are more generous than he is. What deserves praise is his ability to never give up, something anyone can aspire to. His character takes it to the next level time and again, when things go from bed to worse, and finds the most unusual ways out.

Someone said that A HARD DAY is a film that's easy to love and this is very true. It will appeal to all ages, men and women and parts of it can be retold as a funny joke. A HARD DAY would be a comedy if not for the darker tone of the film and some rather violent scenes. It's great to see a movie that have a potential to become a cult classic. I do hope that its success at Cannes and other various festivals will get it a wider release. A spark of humour and optimism in a desperate situation is something that can be appreciated by everyone.



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