Five Shots: A BITTERSWEET LIFE
just what it says in the cryptic 3AM text message
Five of our favourite shots from A Bittersweet Life
Small Motion, Big Impact
Arms dealer Tae-woong (Kim Hae-gon) only has one scene, but he gets to inhabit a gorgeous outfit and look utterly menacing simply by sinking back into delicious shadows, so nobody’s complaining!
Speaking of only a few shots getting across a lot of menace . . .
Dining Room Table
Does anyone actually set up a red-curtained living room with table-runner and napkins to match, then light it with stark white downlights?
If so, um, maybe don’t go over for dinner, because just based on these shots it should not surprize you to know not everyone in this room makes it til dessert.
More Red
Red makes several appearances as both main and accent color in the film, including in its notable bookending coffee scenes which lend extra meaning to its title, a beautifully symmetrical shot (#1, below) and a stark pop against a large flat sheet of hockey rink ice (#2, below).
Using the Darkness
Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) absentmindedly flicks his floor lamp off, on, off, on, lulling himself and us into a hypnotic state until BAM! thugs appear, and their fight runs through light, dark, light, dark of the lamp being broken . . .
Then the angle changes, though of course we don’t know that because we’re in total darkness, and the door opening creates a stark white spot before a head Thug walks in and turns on the overhead lights.
A great bit of work which adds both comedy and drama to the scene, and also lets the editor play even more than usual with the rhythm of the fight.
Framing with Henchmen
The way henchmen flank Mr Kang is great, serving as a ‘frame within frame’ as their black suits create more shadows which — along with the lighting clearly picking out Kang — really help set him apart from the background and give added ominousness.
