An action movie starring a veteran star isn’t exactly new. Christ, Liam Neeson has built his latter day career on them. Even so, I wasn’t expecting South Korean actress Lee Hye-young to be the latest to become an action star in their 60s.
While she has appeared in genre fare before such as Ryoo Seung-wan’s terrific No Blood, No Tears (2002), she is much better known for dramatic outings like The Blazing Sun (1985) and The Age of Success (1988). This is before even taking into consideration her work in the theater. The fact that such an actress has decided to go into full on action mode at this later stage in her career is what makes her latest feature The Old Woman with the Knife such a tantalizing prospect.
Based on the best selling novel from Gu Byeong-mo, The Old Woman with the Knife tells the tale of aged assassin Hornclaw (Lee Hye-young), a legend in her field who is starting to realize her best days are behind her. For over 40 years, Hornclaw has been taking out the lowest of the low, those who are seen to be drudges in society. Child molesters, rapists, murderers are all fair game.
After one particular hit goes awry, Hornclaw is forced to seek medical attention. Rather than going to the hospital, she is patched up by veterinarian Dr. Kang (Yeon Woo-jin), who she met previously after finding a stray dog. Hornclaw’s organization would normally clear up any loose ends, which would mean that Dr. Kang should be eliminated. However, Hornclaw has softened somewhat in her old age, feeling sympathy for the Doctor, and later his young daughter. This begins to cause issues with the organization.
Further problems arise with the arrival of the deadly Bullfight (Kim Sung-cheol), a young unhinged assassin who has recently begun working for the same organization. Hornclaw and Bullfight find themselves working together, but it is an uneasy alliance with it quickly becoming apparent that Bullfight has a score to settle with Hornclaw, with them having an unknown connection that will be explosively revealed.
The Old Woman and the Knife is quite a departure for director Min Kyu-dong. Better known for helming dramas and romantic comedies than violent actioners, Kyu-dong has done a commendable job, with him pitching the film at just the right tone. It helps that he has employed the expertise of ace cinematographer Lee Jae-woo who gives the film a suitably neo-noir look.
It isn’t like Kyu-dong hasn’t helmed darker fare before, with him kicking his directorial career off with horror movie Memento Mori (1999), with it being quite controversial upon its release. Inexplicably, this was more down to focusing on lesbian characters than its horror aspects, but even so it showed from an early point in his career that he wasn’t one to shy away from topics that may seem taboo.
Times have since changed since Memento Mori’s release, with there nothing in The Old Woman with the Knife that could really be classed as taboo. Well that is unless you count bloody violence, but in comparison to some of the more extreme movies to come from South Korea, this could be seen as quite tame. Or maybe I am just desensitized after my numerous years of watching gloriously violent actioners.
Kyu-dong doesn’t pull any punches when depicting violence. Sure, it may not be Oldboy (2003) or I Saw the Devil (2010), but the action is suitably hard hitting. For the majority of the film, the action favors hand to hand and knife fights, with action choreographer Seo Jeong-ju creating some down and dirty set pieces that really put the cast and stunt team through their paces. Lee Hye-young (and her stunt double) take a fair amount of punishment throughout the film, with Hornclaw taking as much punishment as she gives out.
Seo Jeong-ju has worked behind the scenes on some of South Korea’s most notable action movies, with classic The Man From Nowhere (2010) and the more recent Divine Fury (2019) being just a couple of titles on his filmography. The action here is excitingly staged, however I felt that the last action scene almost went too far. Up till this point, as much as the action stretched realism, it was in the realm of plausibility. The finale changes this, with a set piece that seems at odds with the moody tone the film has otherwise stuck to up until this point.
Featuring Hye-young’s Hornclaw taking on a small army by herself, it changes up the gritty knife fights the film has favored and instead changes to over the top gunplay, where at one point we even have Hornclaw swinging on a rope whilst shooting multiple opponents in slow motion. Kyu-dong also strangely ruins the flow of the action by cutting in several flashbacks that are more distracting than engaging. It almost feels like this sequence was handled by a different director.
Luckily, the film’s leading lady manages to overcome such shortcomings, with Hye-young lifting The Old Woman with the Knife more than just another disposable action movie. Cooly detached, Lee perfectly conveys the subtle changes in her character as she begins to thaw around Dr. Kang and his daughter, as well as slowly coming to realize how she and Bullfight are connected. She isn’t an instantly likeable character, but as you begin to understand her you will be rooting for her to survive everything she is put up against. And trust me, she is put up against plenty, not just physically but emotionally.
As well as going all in with the dramatic aspects of her character, Hye-young also throws herself into the action. Of course, it would be silly to expect that she pulled everything off herself. Obviously there are stunt doubles used, but the filmmakers cover this well to make the action fluid and convincing. Well at least until the over the top finale.
Shin Si-ah from The Witch: Part 2. The Other One (2022) does well in just a handful of scenes as the younger version of Hornclaw, with her taking part in one of the film’s more memorable fight scenes.
Kim Sung-cheol is equal lengths deranged as he is pitiful as the dangerous Bullfight. Constantly attempting to provoke Hornclaw, their relationship is the main catalyst of the film, creating a fair amount of tension, with the mystery surrounding their past being the focal point of the plot. The surrounding sub plot with the organization and its sneaky head Son (Kim Kang-woo) adds an extra layer of danger, but it’s the unpredictability of Kim’s Bullfight that will keep you watching. At some points he is an ally then at others an antagonist, you will find yourself constantly guessing where their relationship will end up.
Sung-cheol conveys Bullfight’s deranged behavior as well as he does with his skill in the action scenes. He gets to show off considerable fight skills on several occasions, with one of the most memorable being a violent rescue of Hornclaw where she finds herself being buried alive and her only hope being the mental bastard that may just want her dead himself.
The double act of Lee Hye-young and Kim Sung-cheol take what could have been a simple revenge tale and make it something special. As much a character study as it is an action movie, The Old Woman with the Knife is a moody tale of loneliness that should please most neo noir and action fans alike. Whilst it has its shortcomings, the quality of the two performances are enough to overcome this. Not a surefire classic, but quality cinema nonetheless.
The Old Woman with the Knife will be available digitally from the good people at Well Go USA on November 25th.
Plot: 4/5
Acting: 4.5/5
Action: 3/5
Overall: 3.8/5