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Audio Format: DD 2.0
Video Format: Widescreen 2.35:1 (Anamorphic)
Languages: Korean
Subtitles: English
Region Code: 1
Year Made: 2006
Running Time: 45
Release Date: 03/10//2008
A Bloody Aria's original Korean title is pretty much untranslatable into English. Guta yubalja literally means "one who induces physical assault." It's military slang, attached to rookies or incompetents who "deserve" to be beaten up by their "seniors" and boot camp sergeants.
 Shot in grimy HD video with just a handful of cast members, Bloody Aria is guaranteed to deeply divide non-Korean viewers into two opposing camps, as much as it has for the domestic audience and critics. Some will no doubt revile it as a premier example of Korean cinema's gloating indulgence in nauseating depictions of physical violence and horrible treatment of women (although not too many "Western" critics seem to mind when Koreans or Japanese do this in their movies.
Won has the good sense to anchor the bizarre plot in the terrific performances given by its ensemble cast. Unlike Deliverance, however, the focus of Bloody Aria is on the "local crazies." Even though the smarmy, sexpot professor of vocal music (brilliantly played by Lee Byung-joon) and his harassed student In-jung (Cha Ye-ryeon, the feline beauty from Voice, largely wasted in a thankless "screaming girl" role) initially appear to be audience substitutes, they are soon relegated to the background.
They are merely catalysts for the real drama to be acted out among the locals. Even though Oh Dal-soo (who seems to be replacing Gi Joo-bong as the ubiquitous face in Korean cinema) as an addle-brained bird hunter and Kim Si-hoo (the adorable cake-maker in Lady Vengeance) as a human punching bag provide able supports, it is really Lee Moon-shik and Han Suk-kyu who keep our eyes glued to the proceedings.
Lee Moon-shik, the perennial heavy who usually specializes in portraying cowardly lechers, is given his best role since the out-of-luck soldier in Once Upon a Time in the Battlefield as Bong-yun, ringleader of the local biker gang. Lee uses his oily smile that narrows his eyes into reptilian slits as a mask that hides Bong-yun's inner turmoil. We sense that, even when this thug is prattling on like an idiot while chewing mouthfuls of uncooked pork and raw garlic, he is capable of doing something seriously dangerous or unpredictable. We never know just what -- unimaginable cruelty, a blast of rapid-fire action, or even a gesture of kindness -- and this keeps us at edge. When his character arc begins to intersect with Han Suk-kyu's cop, sparks (not to mention gobs of blood) begin to fly in earnest.
PARK Young-sun, a college professor, meets In-jeong, one of the prettiest students in his class, by chance at an audition for a big musical project. A reckless womanizer, he asks In-jeong to take a ride with him. They drive to a riverside and he attempts to become intimate. However, to his surprise, In-jeong declines his advances, and runs away. While waiting for her to return, Young-sun encounters a group of cruel and brutal youths who may have killed In-jeong.
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