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On 26 October 1979, the president of South Korea was assassinated. The man behind the barrel was the president's own chief of the secret service, KCIA boss Kim. In this rambunctious and burlesque film, Im Sang-soo portrays the last day of the president's 18-year reign, focusing on the president's tawdry evening entertainment with his cronies... but, hey, no fun before a lecture on discipline and the evils of democracy. Im assembles a top brass cast for his depiction of political carnage, which featured in Directors' Fortnight in this year's Cannes Film Festival.
"South Korean cinema finally gets its first full-blown political satire with [The President's Last Bang], a virtuoso slice of sustained black humor centered on the real-life 1979 assassination of Gen. Park Chung-heui by his secret service chief. Imagine a ramped-down, Korean version of Dr. Strangelove, and you're not far from the satirical tone of this fourth feature by writer-director Im Sang-soo (A Good Lawyer's Wife)." - Variety
Im Sang-soo will be attending the festival.
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D/S Im Sang-soo P Shim Jae-Myeong WS MK Pictures L Korean w/English subtitles TD 35mm/col/2005/102mins
Im Sang-soo was born in South Korea in 1962. His films include [Girl's Night Out] (1998), [Barking Dogs Never Bite] (2000), [A Good Lawyer's Wife] (2003).
