How Gangster Made to Cannes?

Johnny To (right) in the press conference	้ A Bittersweet Life

In my 10+ years of attending Cannes Film Festival, I have never encountered the inclusion of two Asian gangster films in the festival until this year. It has prompted me to redefine what makes a “ Cannes ” film, as it now applies to a genre film as much as an incomprehensible experimental art film.

The two aforementioned films are Election from Hong Kong director Johnny To and A Bittersweet Life from South Korean director Kim Ji-woon, who co-directed a 2002 horror flick Three with Thailand ’s Peter Chan and Nonzee Nimibutr. Election is competing for Palm d’Or, while A Bittersweet Life is only screening here.

Election documents the democracy within a Hong Kong mafia gang, while A Bittersweet Life tells a more character-driven story about bodyguard Sun-woo, whose job is to protect a local godfather’s lover, Hee-soo. When Sun-woo discovers that Hee-soo falls in love with another man, he plans to kill them both. But, he has a change of heart and must therefore escape the godfather’s wrath.

The different lengths of my synopses certainly imply something here. Election redefines the traditional gangster genre by presenting the story in a quasi-documentary format that only reminds us of a cabinet meeting. Its profound details and excessive dialogues, however, may bore most of the audience.

The reason for both films’ inclusion in Cannes may be the fact that they have every element of a film noir; their art directions greatly enhance the dark side of corruptions and gangsters. For example, director Johnny To turns scenes in Election that take place during the day into night. A Bittersweet Life maintains uniqueness of a Korean movie by focusing more on stillness than dialogues. With this style, director Kim Ji-woon challenges the definition of a film noir in many ways. While Election contains fast-talking dialogues, A Bittersweet Life remains stoic with occasional outbursts of violence and plot twists.

A flaw in A Bittersweet Life, which may have affected its entry in the main competition, is its John Woo-style cinematography exploring themes of loneliness, emptiness, and sadness. At times, I see Chow Yun-Fat instead of Lee Byung-han.

In conclusion, both films prove that a movie needs not only be experimental to succeed at Cannes ; a superbly produced commercial film can also reach the star.