A Company Man - Black Edition Uncut Version - DVD

Content: Hyeong-do Ji (So Ji-Sub) works as a hitman for a powerful secret organization. And he's really good at his job. Precision and the elimination of any emotions make Ji the perfect killer. Thus, a rosy future lies ahead of him within the company. But then Ji is accompanied on a mission by the young Hun Ra (Kim Dong-jun), who believes to be able to follow in Ji's footsteps as a temp someday. But after successfully completing the mission Ji is supposed to kill his inexperienced companion, which he doesn't have the heart to do. Thus, Hun only ends up in the hospital and Ji tries to get him an appropriate alibi with his family. In the process, he falls in love with Hun's mother Su-yeon (Lee Mi-yeon), who awakens a desire in the killer to live a normal life with no killing and no secrets. And so Ji decides to quit the Company - a decision with bloody consequences...

With A Company Man, director Lim Sang-Yoon has delivered a more than convincing debut feature. His mixture of silent drama, romance and relentlessly brutal noir thriller can score especially with a stylish visual language and great staged fight scenes. Especially the lead-containing finale has it really in itself, which may also have been one of the reasons that the film had to be shortened for an 18er release and Uncut only with a SPIO JK seal appeared. The discrepancy between the harsh brutality, which is especially unleashed in the opening sequence and the finale, and the very quiet moments between Hyeong-do Ji and Su-Yeon give the whole thing an intensity that gives the film its very special character.

Dramaturgically, on the other hand, there are some obvious hangs. The story relies too often on the usual gangster clichés instead of delving deeper into the fractured psyche of Killer Ji. His change of heart is dealt with too superficially, which hardly detracts from the film's entertainment value, but in the process prevents it from adding any depth that might have made the finale feel a little more powerful. Moreover, the supporting characters remain a bit pale, which underlines the dramaturgical superficialities.

So A Company Man doesn't really have what it takes to become a new cult classic, but an entertaining and visually fully convincing gangster drama Lim Sang-Yoon has succeeded without a doubt. If you have a soft spot for Asian gangster cinema and bloody revenge thrillers, you can safely access here, although the uncut version should be given preference in any case.

Picture + Sound: The visual realization captures the gloomy atmosphere of the story very well with its reduced color scheme and the harmoniously implemented black levels. The image sharpness is also in darker moments at a good level, with the detail representation can convince especially in brighter outdoor scenes. The sound presents the dialogue a bit too front-heavy, which is why the audio feels a bit flat in the quieter scenes. Once action comes into play, however, well-placed sound effects provide pleasing movement in the surrounds. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, apart from the trailer for the film, the DVD has no extras to offer.

Conclusion:A Company Man is a tense, occasionally very gritty noir thriller from Korea that scores with an engaging mix of quiet drama, extreme bloody brutality and respectable action. Although the directorial debut of Lim Sang-Yoon has some lengths and dramaturgical hangs here and there, but they are well absorbed by the stylish production. On DVD the film is released in an uncut version with SPIO JK seal and in an edited FSK 18 version. Which version should be given the preference, there is actually no need to mention further. For friends of the Asian thriller cinema and of exciting revenge dramas absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp