THE FOUL KING (2000)
Directed by: Kim Ji-Woon
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Park Sang-Myeon, Song Yong-Chang
"Kim takes the concept into unexpected directions, delivering a movie fable about the limitations of fantasy, smartly disguised as a slapstick social satire. For sheer invention, pace and range, this leaves most current Hollywood comedies standing"
-Vancouver International Film Festival
In a world where individuals become demographics and you're only worth as much as your paycheck, there's something awe-inspiring about those who choose to drop out of the rat race and become professional wrestlers. Not WWF style glamazons, but wrestlers who tour the cornbelt circuit performing in gymnasiums and county fairs, bringing the starchy blood and high-protein ooze of pullulating, pulsating entertainment to the folks back home. Entertainment at its most skull-punchingly primal, this is Planet of the Apes territory. And into this land of warring megadons, masked behemoths, tights-clad titans, and caped combatants comes Song Kang-Ho. A bank-teller whose boss keeps the employees in line with mortifying applications of his inescapable headlock, Song has been humiliated within an inch of his life.
Making a beeline for the gym he demonstrates that he has an awe-inspiring lack of talent, but like a rayon Rocky he has guts, and he trains, and he trains, and he trains, and trains, and trains, and trains. Quietly. Secretly. Relentlessly. Weeks later, he's still completely untalented, and he'll never be the hero of the ring...but maybe he can be the villain? Picking up the mantle of the Foul King, the bad guy who wins by cheating, Song becomes a villainous masked wrestler who uses forks, folding chairs, crutches, and itching powder to bedevil the wrestlers audiences come to cheer. He's the villian they all love to hate and as his reputation grows he feels that one day he can assume the mantle of his hero....Ultra Tiger Mask!
A surprisingly sensitive comedy about work, wrestling, women, and full and half nelsons it swings from character-driven comedy to wild physical absurdity that hits the mat at 100 mph in the blink of an eye. Choreographed like outtakes from Crouching Tiger, Body Slammin’ Dragon the matches are some of the sweatiest physical displays to come out of Asia since the height of Hong Kong's action cinema, and it's all the more jaw dropping when you realize that the actors are performing their own Fireballs, Atomic Elbow Drops, and Russian Crunches. Take that, Jackie Chan!
The most popular Korean comedy of 2000 (and the fourth most-rented video in Korea!), director Kim Ji-Woon uses his theatre training to become the Baz Luhrman of the wrestling ring, directing Strictly Headlock with the passion of Romeo + Juliet: it's wrestling opera bouffe. Song Kang-Ho, rapidly becoming Korea's most popular actor, holds the movie confidently in his ugly mitts as the lumpy, ungainly Dae-Woo (delivering such a star performance that lots of Korean guys spend their time trying to imitate his voice).
There are no silver linings in The Foul King. There are no last-minute victories, there’s no conquering of impossible odds, and the movie never moves beyond the realm of believability. But even bound by real life, it becomes much more than a comedy, delivering Elvis in the ring! The rebirth of Ultra Tiger Mask! A Vampire boss with sharp pointy fangs! And a masked wrestler named Dae-Woo who refuses to lie down and die.
Director Kim Ji-Woon's note:
"I try to create a situation that is hilarious yet still heart-breaking. I wanted to expose the ridiculous side of the world through an everyday citizen, and ask, which is more fabricated and violent: the foul-play of the world, of the foul-play in the ring?"