A Dirty Carnival is a South Korean

Cinema of Korea

Korean cinema encompasses the motion picture industries of North and South Korea. As with all aspects of Korean life during the past century, the film industry has often been at the mercy of political events, from the late Joseon dynasty to the Korean War to domestic governmental interference...

 neo-noir

Neo-noir

Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...

 mob film

Mob film

Mob films are a subgenre of crime films dealing with organized crime, often the Mafia. Especially in early mob films, there is some overlap with film noir.-History:...

 directed by Yoo Ha that is the fourth feature film for him. Released in 2006

2006 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

, this film sold 1.6 million tickets.

Plot

A Dirty Carnival is the story of Byung-doo , a small-time gangster in his late 20s. To save his family from eviction, Byung-doo accepts a job to murder the public attorney Park and his previous boss, who are standing in the way of his superior, President Hwang. This grants him fame and money. On the other hand, fascinated by the violent life of Byung-doo, one of his high-school friends, Min-ho , now a movie director, decides to interview him and adapt Byung-doo's real-life story to improve his script for a film about gangsters. Meanwhile, old flame Hyun-joo reappears and brings with her the hope of a happier life.

As it turns out, Min-ho's new film uses exactly the same methods Byung-doo used to kill Park and his previous boss. The movie becomes the talk of the town. When Byung-doo realizes that this could reveal everything, he confronts Min-ho. The conflict between them grows to the point where Byung-doo decides to kill Min-ho and leave the country immediately after; however, it turns out it was all part of the plan devised by his fellow gangsters to murder Byung-doo. All of his prior criminal associates betray him and participate in his killing. The movie ends with the repeated scene at the movie site when Byung-doo comes to visit Min-ho and asks him to make a real gangster movie showing the friendship and tears gangsters share.

External links

• Review at koreanfilm.org