Rough Cut

I'm still waiting for the day when North Korea will tear down their walls and get with the rest of the world. I've been looking around for films from North Korea but have been unable to find any that I can access.  It would be very interesting to see what their feature films are like, or if they are still in the propaganda vein.  In the meantime, we have an increasing roster of films from South Korea.
In Rough Cut, a mid-level gangster unwittingly becomes an actor. He is a fan of a famous action star, and spies him at a club. He sends some minions to get the star’s autograph, but the star is haughty and sends them back. The gangster finally goes himself, and puts the action star in his place.

The action star’s latest film is delayed several times when he gets too caught up in stunts and hits his costars for real, who refuse to continue acting with him. He gets the bright idea to hire the gangster instead, since he is used to fighting for real and won’t complain.


This works for a time, until the gangster fights back, leaving the action star cowering. But the actor starts to like someone who can fight back, and the action in his movie becomes real, which pleases their director but also scares him.

The action star meanwhile is having an affair that he wants to keep secret, although his girlfriend wants him to acknowledge her in public. The gangster is also trying to get his boss out of jail before his trial begins, even though the boss is pretty much guilty.

I thought at first this would be more of an action film, which it is, there is enough action to please fans of Asian action films. But the relationship between the two main characters is more than that; it's the gangster character that is more interesting though. By the end, when the gangster returns to his old ways, he seems to be saying to the actor, “This is real life, I am living it, what you are doing is just make believe,” and saying in a sense that despite what the actor may think they are not as alike as he (the action star) wanted to believe.