The Good, the Bad, the Weird

The winner takes it all in this Western-adventure, in which three criminals fight each other to get hold of a treasure map – and secure eternal wealth for themselves.

The Good, the Bad, the Weird draws more than just its title from Sergio Leone’s classic 1966 film, but Kim Jee-won’s modern version is set to the Manchurian region of China in the 1930s, where ethnic tension is ripe and the rule of law is more or less absent. The bandit leader The Bad tries to steal a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling through the region, but he is outsmarted by the train robber The Weird. Meanwhile The Good, a bounty hunter, is after The Bad. Other bandits, as well as the Japanese army, also become involved in the unpredictable and bloody rivalry that follows.

Director Kim has made a number of films in a variety of genres, including absurd comedies and stylish horror flicks. Nevertheless he has often, and undeservedly, been overshadowed by other Korean auteurs such as Park Chan-wook. In this film he goes out of his way to entertain us, and adds scenes of slapstick humour to a series of breath-taking action set pieces.

Kim Jee-won (b. 1964) is one of South Korea’s leading filmmakers. His films are often highly stylised, full of detailed mis-en-scene – and very violent. He is perhaps best known for A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) and I Saw the Devil (2011). Kim’s previous film, The Age of Shadows, was the closing film at FFS 2017.