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A pool-hall brawl opens Ryoo Seung-Wan's debut feature, a fitting summation of the territory explored throughout this exciting debut. A Rotterdam Film Festival highlight, Die Bad comprises four distinct episodes, each of which has its own tone and style. With criss-crossing themes and characters they add up to a comprehensive account of the causes and effects of male aggression.

Part 1, Rumble, pits art school and technical college students against one another with a fatal outcome. In Part 2, Nightmare, the accidental murderer is released from jail still haunted by his victim and finds that his former best friend has become a cop.

Rumble, originally released as a short, took home a prize at the 1997 Pusan Film Festival Die Bad collects and expands upon the ideas first explored in this earlier work. Each episode allows the opportunity for the enthusiastic cast to choreograph their own fight scenes and perform their own stunts.

"I was greatly motivated by Quentin Tarantino's films and I have been a big fan of Jackie Chan's since I was a kid."—director. Ryoo Seung-Wan


I LOVE BEIJING

Xiari Nuanyangyang
Director Ning Ying
MIFF 2001