No Blood, No Tears Film Review

Name: No Blood, No Tears
Release Date: 2002
Country: South Korea
Director: Seung-wan Ryoo
Writer: Seung-wan Ryoo, Jin-wan Jeong
Actors: Jun Do-yeon (Soojin), Lee Hye-young (Gyung-Sun)

Nothing gets the adrenaline rushing for us ladies than a kickass film where the female protagonists are so badass that you want to become them! Where the ladies teach the little boys in the film not to mess with them, at all! A Guy Ritchie style film can was created for us ladies to appreciate. No Blood, No Tears is EXACTLY that film!

The films centers around our two female protagonists. Soojin is an aspiring singer with a violent boyfriend who has become a criminal. Gyung-Sun was a hardcore gangster turned taxi driver who meets every scum on Earth, she also owes a few gangsters quite a bit of money. Under the most unlikely of circumstances, both girls meet eachother. While neither has anything to gain or lose, they devise a plan to steal a duffel bag from an illegal  dog fight that contains copious amounts of cash. However, they are not the only ones after that bag.

Lets first talk about the plot. If you like ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ then you will LOVE this film! There are many twists and turns within this plot. You will, and I cannot stress this enough, need to pay full attention to the film. If your watching the film and doing something else I can guarantee you will end up not being able to follow the plot at all. There are double crosses, triple crosses and many plot points that’ll keep you on your toes.

There are an excessive amount of characters each with a different background but with one purpose; to find that duffel bag. The reason the plot can become quite complicated is there are quite a few different stories you will need to follow but each character is an important role; we have the inept police officers, idiotic street punks who switch between being informants to trying to get the goods themselves (they provide the comic relief), loan collectors who are too sweet for the job, and, my personal favourite, ‘Silent Man’ played by martial arts action director Doo-hong Jung. Not only is he damn fine to look at, but he steals every scene he’s in. He has an amazing fight scene where he can really show off his techniques.

The acting is superb throughout. I fell in love with Lee Hye-young’s portrayal of Gyung-Sun. She is one of the most badass women in film (maybe second to Imperator Furiosa). Her no fills, no bullshit attitude is refreshing, and she fights like a beast! One of the best acting came from Jae-yeong Jeong who plays Dok-bul who plays the deranged boyfriend and has a big character change. I loathed his character. He is revolting in every sense of the word. The actor did a fine job!

The fight scenes are brutal to watch!! Everyone gets gut punched at some point. The fight scenes involving our Silent, Beautiful man are filmed beautifully, and yet unusual. Some people might find the non-glorified violence difficult to digest especially against our two lovely heroines, The film will be triggering to those who may be affected by the violence.

My favourite aspect about No Blood, No Tears is the sense of sisterhood. Nothing makes a good film for me than seeing gurl gangs kicking ass! These two polar opposites make the best duo since ‘Thelma and Louise’. I would love to see more films such as this one!! You rarely get to see films where the girls are tough and can hold their own! It’s a type of film you watch with the girls. I found myself fist pumping the air whenever one of them came out on top.

No Blood, No Tears an awesome film! Most certainly worth a watch. Complicated but clever, funny yet dark with characters you love, you would love to hate, and ones that make you spit on the ground. Fantastic film!