Kill Boksoon
Director: Byun Sung-hyun
Year: 2023
Rating: 7.5
Country: Korea
The days of lone serious low-key assassins is
in the past. You are not likely to see many films like The Mechanic or The
Eiger Sanction any longer. Not slick enough. Not a high enough body count.
No swirling action scenes in which the killer takes out a roomful of other
killers. In those old films, they took a contract of one person, planned
it out meticulously and made the hit. And went back home. Now they have had
to add lots of glitz and absurdity to them. I like both styles, but you have
to go with the times. In these past few years, there have been a remarkable
number of films featuring assassins. In all film industries. They are the
hottest thing since long-haired ghosts. It would take a smarter person than
me to explain why this is. Has a certain nihilism entered into our society?
And mind you, the assassins are the heroes of these films. Maybe just because
they seem so cool, so able to break the rules of society and do it with no
remorse - sociopaths but our sociopaths.
Still with so many assassin films filmmakers
have to try and differentiate themselves from the others. This one certainly
aims for that by having a female killer - but even that is becoming more
common - but making her into a loving mother with a teenage girl going through
growing pains. The solitary assassin is becoming a relic of the past. John
Wick created a world in which assassins were just a part of an organic body
that set rules and punishments. Now it is a world of fellow killers who are
all drinking buddies and talk about their work. Hemlock and Bishop from Eiger
and The Mechanic would cringe at this. They are old-school killers. Keep
your mouth shut. Have no friends because you may have to kill them someday.
Sex is ok but not love.
Boksoon is part of this new age world. The
top killer for an organization called MK that has gone global. They are run
by Min-kyu (Sul Kyung-gu) who sets three rules for his employees. Kill no
one underage. Kill only if sanctioned by the organization. Accept all assignments
sanctioned by the organization. Any breaking of the rules can mean death.
There are other smaller professional killer groups, but they have to live
by the rules as set down by MK. They all meet from time to time to talk out
issues. Boksoon is reaching middle-age - probably a little old for her job
but she is still considered the best. Held in great respect by all killers.
She enjoys hanging out with a bunch of killers from some of the smaller groups
- they meet at a bar run by an ex-assassin and have a good time talking about
their profession - a little envious of Boksoon but never really saying so.
They all would love to join MK but they are not good enough. Even in the
organization, killers are given rankings. And like any good organization
they hire trainees with potential.
There is a lovely opening scene that shows
the puckish humor that touches down on the film from time to time. Boksoon
has knocked out a Yakuza who she has a contract on. But rather than just
killing him - she takes him out on a deserted road and lets him wake up.
He appreciates the gesture. Why he asks? My daughter was telling me about
fairness and so I will be fair. You get this samurai sword, I get this hatchet.
Let's get to it. But when she plays out various scenarios in her dead, she
dies - so she just shoots him and tells him the grocery stores will be closing
soon. Her daughter Jae-yeong (Kim Si-a) is in a coming-of-age film - wrestling
with issues at school, issues of love - she likes girls, is resentful of
her mother - a typical teenage girl. Boksoon tells her boss that killing
people is a lot easier than raising a child. She and her boss go way back
to when he had to kill her father.
This is all sweet - are we in an assassin
film or a K-Drama - but then she is assigned to a kill that she is unable
to go through with for her own reasons. She breaks rule three. It gets complicated
after that. And bloody. Boksoon is played by the great actress Jeon Do-yeon
(The Housemaid, Secret Sunshine, My Mother, the Mermaid). She is becoming
the Liam Neeson of Korea. Now in her fifties, she has suddenly
become an action star with this film and Revolver. Keep it going! Let the
end credits roll for a few seconds - there is a nice end bit to the film.
