Kim Jee-Woon did not leave this realization to chance or to the hands of the more or less. We will end up either amazed, doubtful, rebellious, but never indifferent. A proven genius, who will not have exhausted his talents in this undeniable masterpiece (The Good, the Bad and the Crazy, I met the Devil), he plunges us, immerses us in a universe of ruthless violence. It is expressed in the paradox of emotions and blood, through choreographies that give the film this vision of perfect coordination.
History
Kim Sun-Woo, a hotel manager, has a reputation for being pragmatic and efficient. He is the right-hand man of President Kang, a prominent figure in the underworld whose only weakness is his young mistress, Hee-so. Kang will order Kim Sun-Woo to follow the girl, whom he suspects of cheating on him. Kim Sun-Woo finds her in the arms of another man, he hesitates and decides not to get involved without knowing why. Furious, Kang, feeling betrayed, launches his gang in search of him with the firm intention of making him pay for this mistake. Kim Sun-Woo will find himself in the middle of a nightmare fighting an irreversible battle to save his own life…
Technical fact sheet
Original title: 달콤한 인생 Director and Screenplay : Kim Jee-woon Genre: action Country of production: South Korea Duration: 118 minutes Released: 2005 Cast : Lee Byung-hun, Kim Yeong-cheol, Sin Min-ah, Kim Roi-ha 
Impressions
Far from carrying originality in its scenario, A bittersweet life draws its address from within its protagonist, plunging the viewer into a dislocated external territory (mafia), caricatured and serene in the image of the hero (or anti-hero , it seems!). The "hotel killer" has ethics, yes! The film could have been built without the role of the young woman. It is almost an excuse that allows us to glimpse the soul of the latter. The director's shots incredibly honor this perception. In order to gradually reach the temperature of an " action film" dynamic, where fragility and violence clash to offer us an explosive , surprising and homogeneous whole, the feelings of the hero become clear and opposed to his chaotic situation. Calm in the storm (Yin-Yang), humor in horror (where great Western directors would probably never have dared), ethics in the mafia (!) … Far be it from us to prejudice, but such a work could only be… Asian! A "bit offbeat" always attached to a lucidity of scenario that remains, cost that cost, anchored in drama and action. 
An aside (perhaps in the wish to let the spectator breathe) that surprises at the turn of a "serious" scene (see disturbing), interfere with a touch of lightness while our tension is at its zenith. We are almost grateful to the director, who allows us to catch our breath before plunging back into this bloody universe. It reminds us of a stray fly, twirling around the camera during the shot! The extreme emotions of the characters are translated, set up through scenes of great violence. These same scenes, bordering on the unbearable for the spectator, carry the breathless rhythm of the film. No doubt, Lee Byung Hun pays himself the best piece of the cake (yes, he is the one who carries the film!). But far from accepting the easy, he indulges in a perilous and subtle exercise from which he will emerge brilliantly using his talent to allow us to deflower a character as complex as it is perceptible. At the same time cold, pragmatic, poetic, with touching ethics and… Moving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iog8hu78AMw&t=2s
