Kissing gourami.

Shiri/Swiri
Kang Je-gyu 1999 South Korea
Starring: Han Suk-kyu, Choi Min-sik, Yunjin Kim, Song Kang-ho, Yoon Joo-sang, Park Yong-woo

In 2014 North Korea is best known for its detachment from the rest of the world, the absolute power of its leader and the totalitarian nature of its society so a film concerning the long-standing civil war between the two Republics of the country produced by one of them could be suspected of being a little one-sided and, at first it seems it is. The opening scenes of Shiri show a frenetic, violent, storm-soaked battle situation with soldiers gleefully bayonetting terrified men tied to trees, the blood splattering across their faces repeatedly. The thing is this isn't war, it's simply a disturbing form of military training led by the great Choi Min-sik, known primarily in the West as the main character in Oldboy. His role here isn't at the level of that film but, despite its enigmatic, slightly underwritten nature, he's still good value. In one scene he spits forth a shockingly raw, vitriolic explanation for his actions and blows every other actor in the film away, and that's not an insult to them. The aforementioned training continues with the soldiers being blindfolded and forced to shoot at the empty space between a line up of fellow learners and even fire at crash test dummies dressed as government officials. If this sounds biased it's pleasing to see that South Korea are subject to the same blurred morality. For example, while the North are shown to be brutal and underhanded, the South are openly developing biological weapons and holding shows to demonstrate how powerful and intelligent they are. Not only that but Min-sik's special forces are shown to be acting on their own initiative rather than following their apparently level-headed president as might be expected. That all of this is contained within a sweat-drenched action film, albeit one less bombastic than the Mission Impossible series, less posturing than the Bourne cycle and more realistic than either, may put some off but the film is well worth your time, not least for the stunning visual sequences involving human bombs and imploding skyscrapers, the clever and eminently possible narrative and the ferocious acting. Perhaps in an attempt to attract audiences more familiar with Hollywood, perhaps purely because of dumb sexism, all the advertising for the film is based around the image of a gun-toting woman in a slit-to-the-thigh dress showing off her sideboob but it should all be ignored. For one the lead female character isn't even seen properly until the last half-hour and is never dressed like that and the majority of the film is spent with Min-sik and Suk-kyu. What's more it's brilliant and much more than just the dumb action movie the publicity may have you believe.