Friday, September 2, 2016

The Tiger: An Old Hunter's Tale 2015


     The Japanese are occupiers of the Kingdom of Korea in 1925.  Chun Man-Duk has lost his wife, he lives with his 16-year-old son Suk-Yi and they take care of each other.  The Japanese want to kill all the tigers until there are no more in the mountains.  The last one left is the Mountain Lord of Mt. Jirisan.  The Japanese will stop at nothing to finish off this tiger.  Tiger skins fascinate Japanese dignitary Maezono and he pushes the Japanese soldiers and the Korean hunters for a kill.  The men try to persuade Chun Man-duk to join the hunt because he knows the trails of the lion and he was once a well-known top shooter.  When he refuses, they talk his son into joining the hunt.  They believe this will draw Chun Man-duk into going with them and he will agree to help them.
     There is a LOT going on in this film.  Goo-Gyeong has scars on his face from hunting this tiger before.  He is determined to use any means possible to be the one to have the last shot.  Chun’s son feels he is not doing anything with his life and he’s disappointed his father won’t join the hunt.  He doesn’t know the back history of his family and this tiger.  The animals seem very real but none of the hunt scenes would be possible without using computer-generated imagery.   I really felt for the tiger and I could not understand the reasoning behind killing this magnificent animal?  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

139 min, Action directed by Hoon-jung Park with Choi Min-sik, Jeong Man-sik, Kim Hong-pa, Kim Sang-ho, Lee Eun-woo, Ren Osugi, Ra Mi-ran, Yoo Jae-Myung, Jung Suk-Won, Kim Hong-Fa, Hyun Seung-Min.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 55% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Letter boxd average rating 3.3* out of 5*.
Special Note:  Filming began on this movie December 15, 2014 in the Guryong Valley, Jirisan National Park, South Korea.  Hoon-jung Park also directed New World of 2013 and The Showdown of 2011.  The names in this film are listed differently on Asian Wikipedia and I have followed that spelling.

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