quiet trickster

See, now, that’s my kind of movie. I want to do that.

I’ll admit to a certain confusion over parts of The Good, The Bad, The Weird‘s plot, character motivation, location (Oh, Manchuria, not Mongolia, right – that explains a lot – possibly…*), not helped by my inability to distinguish Korean from Japanese when they’re both subtitled. But, unlike most Hollywood films with nonsensical plotting, The Good, The Bad, The Weird has the kind of cinematic energy and sheer bravura that renders that point moot.

I’ve developed quite a taste for Korean film – it always seems much fresher than Hollywood offerings. The Good, The Bad, The Weird plays fast and loose with the western genre in a way that few Western directors would attempt**. Takashi Miike does a similar thing with Sukiyaki Western Django: that film hasn’t been released in the UK, but from the trailer it appears to have a far more arch tone (and features Quentin Tarantino, acting – we all know how well that turns out…). The Good, The Bad, The Weird manages to balance the absurdity of its over-the-top action with humour and without becoming too convinced of its own cleverness.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird does occasionally get bogged down in action sequences that run too long, but it’s never less than entertaining – it’s a grin-inducing film for a geek like me.

*My knowledge of Manchuria pretty much begins and ends with Laurence Harvey’s head coming to a point…

**It’s like Firefly in 1930′s Manchuria.

Posted on 13th February, 2009 at 3:51pm in media and tagged with cheerful disregard for historical accuracy, eastern western, gratuitous Joss Whedon reference, Korea, pure cinema, The Good The Bad The Weird.