[HanCinema's Film Review] "Big Bang" + DVD Giveaway

An ordinary man by the name of Man-su (played by Kam Woo-sung)  makes his living as an office worker and even in free time has a very extreme aversion to risk. Alas, the modern world does not look kindly upon people who play it safe. Few social crimes are worse than being a person who does not have fun. After his initial outburst of civil disobedience Man-su meets ne'er do well Cheul-gone (played by Kim Soo-ro) and then, well, things just get progressively worse and worse.

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In "Big Bang" society hates us all. There are rules. Which do not matter, because the people who follow the rules are not rewarded. Yet on the flip side, disobeying every single rule willy-nilly is no better. As Man-su impulsively comes up with more ways he can personally take revenge on society, there's this constant sense that a disastrous ending is inevitable. Even if Man-su does incidentally manage to unveil some actual criminals along the way, those who cannot properly balance obeying and disobeying rules are destined for horrible punishment.

This is well personified in the form of antagonistic cop Dong-cheul (played by Kang Sung-jin), who operates under the petty law enforcement principle of "do the opposite of whatever the perpetrator wants". While Man-su is willing to obey authority, the problem with his snapping completely is that it renders Man-su unwilling to submit simply out of the goodness of his heart. Every other person Man-su runs into twists and makes a mockery of the spirit of the law, so Man-su responds by ignoring the letter of it.

The satirical elements of "Big Bang" are fairly powerful. Even as it becomes clear there's no way Man-su can possibly hit a happy ending, the man's generally pathetic demeanor is endearing enough that we can forgive all of his violent outrages pretty easily. Man-su's arc of of going from meekly obedient to shouting out orders may be pure fantasy- yet at the same time, it is hypothetically the most cinematic way for him to become more assertive and overcome his own personal weaknesses.

The gags, too, are pretty solid. Even outside the petty revenge fantasy, the clearly telegraphed moments of success and failure work to emphasize how it's not just a brash attitude that paves the way to success. Timing also has a lot to do with it. There's relatively little the police can do against a truly psychotic man who has lost any incentive to play by the rules. This grimness parlays well into black humor, where time and again Man-su is just hellbent on proving that he's not a loser.

"Big Bang" is an action movie set in a world where action movies are not supposed to happen, because there are rules and people are supposed to obey them. This is in fact the real world we live in. So for anyone who has been frustrated having run afoul of these rules, there's something genuinely joyful about watching Man-su expose these social constructs for the farce they are. "Big Bang" is a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it.

Review by William Schwartz

"Big Bang" is directed by Park Jeong-woo and features Kam Woo-sung, Kim Soo-ro, Kang Sung-jin, Jang Hang-sun, Kim Young-ok and Moon Jeong-hee.

 

Big Bang DVD