BALLERINA (Lee Chung-hyun, 2023)

in

(****+ / *****): Few phrases inspire an automatic watch like "Korean revenge film" and BALLERINA is one of my recent tops: tight, taut, crowd-pleasing revenge story with great performances across the board – especially lead Jeon Jong-seo as Ok-ju (in a rather Michael-Caine-in-GET-CARTER-infused turn) – and narrative twists (one in particular being a fantastic subversion of the "hunt from the bottom up" fare) that jolt what can be – in less imaginative hands – a fairly rote genre with pathos and unpredictability.

"Yet its artists are forced to work underground…"

in
In 1992 a South Korean court ruled that tattooing creates health risks and ought to require a medical licence. Tattooists without that qualification can receive a fine of 50m won ($38,000) or up to five years in prison. Doy reckons a couple are locked up every year. The ban also means that tattooists are vulnerable to blackmail, exploitation or sexual assault because they cannot report perpetrators for fear of incrimination.