I haven't reviewed many titles but since it's 8 in the am and I'm watching it on silent (so not to wake my roommates) I figured I'd put my 2 cents in. Like I said, it's on silent and I'm only reading subtitles. Some of the scenes are so intriguing that sound seems unnecessary. I'm not really good at this but I can say that this movie sticks with you, probably for ever. This is why I say it's "up there with Old Boy". I watch, up to, 4 movies a day and sometimes I accidentally watch movies twice without realizing until the end, so when one sticks, it must be saying a lot for that film. The acting is impeccable, stylistically, it draws you in and as violent as it seems, it does hit a warm spot from time to time. Like I said, I'm no pro at film reviews but if you get what I'm trying to say, give this film a shot.

'Breathless' revolves around the life of an abusive debt-collector named Sang-Hoon, an isolated and hateful person. Having lost his sister and mother at a very young age, due to accidents relating to domestic abuse, he is eternally angry on his father and fate. His despise for the people who can't stand up for themselves (stemming from witnessing his helpless mother) makes him even more violent towards his debtors. His attitude towards people and life starts changing after he bumps into a high school girl named Yeon-Hue. Being a father figure to his divorced half-sister's nephew Yeong-in, and his affection for Yeon-Hue brings out the compassionate side in him. But, as most times, cruelty has a price to pay...This inspiring film marks the Writing & Directorial debut of talented actor Yang Ik-Joon, who stars as the lead as well. The passionate camera-work by Yun Jong-ho follows the characters in an intriguing way, using which the Director tells a compelling story about violence and abuse, interspersed with moments of humour and warmth. All the main characters are developed quite well, and are given proper depth and screen presence. All the actors involved give commendable performances.The movie is as visceral as the punches thrown by the characters in this hard-hitting drama; it's a thought-provoking tale on the cycle of violence.

Breathless is a bleak, relentless and emotionally raw movie from South Korea. An uncompromising look at the violent underbelly of a section of poverty ridden urban South Korea, Breathless is the directorial debut of lead man and scriptwriter Yang Ik-joon, and has rightly been bestowed with a healthy array of awards.As the films pace allows layers to build and relationship dynamics to be understood and interwoven, nausea and discomfort evolves into empathy and worry, characters you are sure are irredeemable surprise you. The shaky documentary style photography adds to the grittiness and rawness. Breathless is stark, dark and uncompromising. Well directed and with expertly judged emotional performances, this film has dared to expose the terrible unbreakable cycle of violence in an apparently progressive and evolved society. JM

Unfortunately some technical issues marred the supposedly powerful introduction where violence get unleashed by all characters on screen both physically and verbally. Clearly played from a DVD screener with the "Showbox" watermark, the audio was left silent for the good part of some verbal barrage, which to the prudish might seem like music to their ears.If there's one thing I learnt / have reinforced after the movie, is how ubiquitous the Korean swear word which sounds phonetically like "shee-bal" can actually be. It's more versatile than the English language's F-word, and the Korean one can be used to describe a whole host of bodily parts both male and female, with colourful adjectives strung together as well. Either that, or the person subtitling the show has some really colourful imagination to tag some appropriate swear words of his/her own liking, in order to spice up the dialogue for non-Korean speaking audiences.Breathless is almost like a one-man effort, with Yang Ik-June wearing a number of hats in producing, writing, directing and starring in the lead role of Song-hoon, a violent gangster who doesn't have to think twice when deciding to lay hands on his victims, and insulting them concurrently with his foul mouth. He's a debt collector in a small outfit which he co-founded, but finds more pleasure in being a field agent, bringing along underlings whom he can abuse as well, and show the ropes to, in teaching the essence of collecting money, and to show no mercy to those who cannot pay up.Most of the violence happen off screen, though the aftermath is seldom shielded in order to elicit a response from the audience. It actually makes for a great 3D movie with objects flying all around and at the screen, from furniture, to fists, and even spit, and I enjoyed the many unintentionally comedic moments that Ik-June effortlessly paints into his narrative despite the very negative elements of violence and language that pepper throughout, and almost every character was left tainted by dishing out, or be at the receiving end of bad signs or an uncouth mouth.I suppose the question here is, and the issue that Ik-June could have wanted to address, is that of violence, and domestic violence even, if a circumstances of a tragedy would lead to impressionistic youths turning to violence as a means of release and addressing their emotions. Or more directly, if being brought up in a violent environment would lead to the nurturing of violent tempers, given the lack of proper role models, and being unable to break out from the vicious circle as that painted in the film.Breathless may seem a little too long as it had attempted to give each character equal opportunity to shine, from the schoolgirl that Song-hoon befriends, to his boss, a young boy whom he takes as his own, and his mother, coupled with a protégé in the making. It's quite the complete story serving as a cautionary tale and a statement of the never-ending cycle, but would have benefited from tightening up the pace a little and could have gone under 2 hours. That said however, it did result in enough apathy given toward the characters here, given the anti-heroic stance they're all under, and you'll buy into its story of redemption toward the last act, and the fortification of the positive relationships that Song-hoon had, through his own violent ways, brought together.