Kimchi Western

What is a kimchi western you ask? You remember the classic spaghetti westerns right? Movies that were set in the Wild West, but were really filmed in Italy. Sounds like a crazy idea, but some of the most enduring westerns are spaghetti westerns. Where would we be without the likes of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" or "Fistful of Dollars"?

Apparently, Korea is trying its hand at making western-style film. Borrowing (none too discretely, I might add) from the Italian, the title of the movie is "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird." The title makes perfect sense... in Korean. The Korean word for "weird" means something more along the lines of deviant, but what kind of title is "The Good, the Bad, and the Deviant"?

I say the film is western-style because it is not set in the American west. One might rightly ask, "how is it a western if it is not set in the west?" and that is a good question. Look at the poster for the movie, looks pretty western eh? The trick here is that to Koreans, this IS set in the west. Think of what is west of Korea. CHINA! so the movie takes place in China, Manchuria to be exact. Clever, eh?

The movie is set in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The plot follows three outlaws as they run rampant- robbing trains, riding horses, and shooting things- everything that is typically done in westerns. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I really want to see this movie. If you go to youtube, you can watch the trailer here.

You watched the trailer right? You want to see it right? Even if it gets horrible reviews, I will probably find some way of seeing it. Or maybe I can just wait for their next movie. "Fistful of Won."