The Unjust review [LKFF 2015]: “A very interesting and flawed film.”

The Unjust review: A convoluted, confusing, and often unfocused thriller that is saved by its social commentary, dark edge, and great performances.

The Unjust is a 2010 feature from Ryoo Seung Wan, known for his eclectic action tastes in films such as The City Of Violence, The Berlin FIle, and Crying Fist. But unlike the mindless action films of Hollywood, his efforts often have a deeper more satirical edge. This is most evident in The Unjust, a convoluted, confusing, and often unfocused thriller that is saved by its social commentary, dark edge, and great performances.

The plot is such a dense and intertwined mess that it could be said to be the film’s biggest weakness. In many ways though this is completely on purpose, as the characters begin to tangle themselves up in their webs of deceit and double cross. Starting with frantic and bombastic music that accompanies some newsreels explaining that a serial killer of young girls is on the loose, we then see that the most likely suspect is killed before the title card has come up. Since there wasn’t enough evidence to justify the killing, the police are forced to create a new prime suspect who will go down for the crime.

For this corrupt task, Detective Choi (Hwang Jung Min) and his team are brought in. Choi is distanced from the regular cops as he never graduated from the traditional route of police academy, and he has recently been investigated concerning a major company where he has arrested certain individuals for tax avoidance, but this may have been at the request of rival property developers. Choi reluctantly agrees, but is unlucky in that the big player he has had arrested in the past is friends with a top prosecutor Joo Yang (Ryu Seung Beom), resulting in a dialogue heavy game of cat and mouse. Meanwhile, property developer and known gangster Jang (Yoo Hae Jin) is hired by Choi to find someone to play the part of serial killer.

The plot gets away from the characters as much as it does the audience, which does eventually become fun despite a first half of frustration. There is only so much information a viewer can take in, and when coupling that with reading the subtitles, you’ll do well to take notes. It also doesn’t help when dates, times, locations, and freeze frames to introduce character and their jobs, also litter the screen and cause information overload. In the second half, as jigsaw pieces begin to fall into place, we see characters having to turn on one another, employ even more unsavoury characters, and try and cover their tracks with increasingly drastic measures.

This would have worked even better if their was a clear protagonist. As it is, there aren’t really any characters to like. Everyone is self serving and destructive aside from perhaps some of Choi’s team. The script is an exercise in determining which is the lesser of two evils, while at the same time offering little growth to those in lead roles. It’s hard to connect, or even empathise with anything that’s going on, especially when trying to keep track of the plot. It could be said that this may be true of the characters themselves; failing to realise just what they’ve become.

The film is still expertly put together, with many shocking and humbling twists, as well as brutal choreographed action sequences that strike the correct balance between brute force and hypnotic fluency. You have to admire a script that is willing to alienate its audience to make a point, but when the final credits roll it does become clear that the same impact could been achieved with clearer motives and fewer characters. The Unjust is a very interesting and flawed film that certainly results in a lot to think about in regards to storytelling and morality.

The Unjust review by Luke Ryan Baldock, November, 2015.

The Unjust screened at the London Korean Film Festival as part of a retrospective of actor Hwang Jung Min’s work.