[KFCC] Green Fish Review

Story: Mak-Dong ha just finished his military service and is returning home to his family. On the train ride home he saves a woman from some thugs but takes a beating himself. When he finally gets home he finds everything has changed in his small town, in his memories it was pleasant and quiet and now there are high rises going up everywhere. Mak-Dong goes out searching for a way to make some money for his family and eventually meets the woman from the train. Little did Mak-Dong know that she is linked to organised crime, she gets him a job but it is one that leads him to the doorstep of the underworld. There will be no turning back for Mak-Dong.

Review: The premise in Green Fish may not be the most original, " a soldier comes back home, the world has changed and he has nothing to do, he sees a girl he likes but that girl leads him into a world of trouble ". Sure that may be a kind of cliché but it works for this movie. Green Fish is a somewhat slow paced drama that unfolds in a sad tone, some of the main themes in this movie revolve around family, loyalty and love.

I found the characters good for this movie, they fit in with everything but there weren't any of them that had that extra something. Even the main character Mak-Dong (Han Suk-Gyu) around who the entire story unfolded lacked that extra depth to make the movie better. Don't get me wrong Han Suk-Gyu's performance was great, he portrayed the role well but I never got attached to the character or overly sympathised with his situation. When you have characters in the movie that you can get attached to that is the little extra magic that can make a movie memorable. As for the other two leading characters, Sim Hye-Jin and Moon Sung-Keun I found their performances respectable but there was something cold about both of their characters that just did not sit well with me.

There was one scene in this movie that I really liked, it was when Mak-Dong went on a picnic with his entire family. Without giving away too much Mak-Dong's family has a few issues and Mak-Dong dreams of everyone living happily together again. The reason why I liked this scene was because you could really feel the emotion, from the initial joy of the reunion to the upset and sadness when the day does not turn out as planned. Much of the movie is meant to have a touching emotional affect, there are a few other scenes where it works also but there are many other times where the emotion simply just does not come across. The movie could have been deeper but I guess it did not work out perfectly and that is a little sad.

Being a drama movie, the pace tends to be on a slower side but you still have a good flow and development. You won't find any long moments, as the story is involving. Even if this story involved the criminal underworld don't expect any real action, there might be a few faster paced scenes in this movie but its orientated more towards the emotion/drama feel rather than action.

Overall I find that this was an interesting movie, a sad but enjoyable story. Looking back at the movie there were many scenes that I found well done and carrying and interesting emotional tone. If you enjoy drama movies set in the criminal underworld or if you enjoy a sad drama then take a look at this movie. Action fans beware, this is not a movie for you.