top of page

The Merciless - A Masterpiece

A stunning film that won hearts at Cannes 2017. Incredible performance by Siwan.



The Merciless is a complete entertainer - beautifully stylized - with sharp editing and brilliant twists.


The film is packed with action and drama. Smart one-liners and insane twists. The director has done an ace job with the story, the performances, and the overall production design.


The cinematography is crazily beautiful. I have shared some grabs here. But one must watch the film twice to get the nuances. Like in a shot, the entire building gets into the shadow creating a somber space indoors as there is an impending attack. And the clouds move away in the middle of the action. Can you imagine the continuity precision?


The main highlight of the film is Siwan. Honestly, this film would not have been the same without him.



SIWAN HAS JUST KILLED IT!


Im Siwan reminisced about his experience at Cannes 2017 with Marie Claire Korea for BIFF '22. He called the 6-min standing ovation "His Glorious Moment".


Here is the Photocall of the cast from the official Cannes YT Channel.

(It's adorable to see Siwan explain the Korean love symbol!)



For most actors, it takes a lifetime to make it to Cannes Film Festival, one of the film industry’s most coveted events to be invited to. But for actor Yim Si-wan, it only took five years.

The film was also showcased at the London Korean Film Festival 2017. Here is an article by Hayley Scanlon on the film.





An atmosphere of mistrust pervades, as it does in all good film noir, but the central tragedy is not in trust misplaced but trust manifesting as a kind of love between two men engulfed by a web of confusion, betrayal, and corrupted identities.





Here's an insane camera move - with Siwan in the middle of the action.

Brilliant. Genius. MAD!

Below is behind the scenes of this crazy shot. The camera is rigged on Siwan, as he is hurled across the hall. I am sure it must have hurt. Who works this hard even after being blessed with the looks and talent that he has?


There's more genius in this shot - as in the edit, it is stitched perfectly with the previous long take to give a feeling of a single take. Precision perfected.


Here's another short Behind The Scenes of an action sequence. Siwan doing his own stunts!



Below is the same video without the subtitles (Korean version).



Below is an insane shot of a punch that's important in the storyline. It's actually a smooth cut to give a feeling of two focus shifts. It is quite impactful.

Remarkable cinematography meets great editing.

There are many intense moments in the film. The chemistry between Seol Kyung-gu & Yim Siwan is unparalleled. There's one scene where grieving HyunSu (Siwan) vents out his frustration on JaeHo (Kyung-gu). They are in a small prison cell and HyunSu starts the fight, JaeHo wants to avoid it, but is forced to retaliate when HyunSu just refuses to give up. HyunSu (obviously) loses the fight and is left gasping on the floor.


The entire sequence is brilliantly directed. You can feel the small space. The action feels raw - long shots with less cuts add to the tension. There are sections where Siwan and Kyunggu have actually fought - you can feel both of them exerting their strength against each other.


Siwan's brilliance shines through as you can see the graph within this small scene. You can see HyunSu getting angrier every time JaeHo overpowers him or tells him to stop. The scene ends with defeated HyunSu. In his distant gaze, you can see layers of emotions - his grief, his helplessness, his frustration, his exhaustion, all at once. That's Siwan.


There are many intense scenes between the two protagonists.

Trivia: The dialogue "Don't trust the person. Trust the situation." from The Merciless was used in the Netflix series Run On.


Another line is "You are pretty even bruised." from The Merciless.

Siwan says in Run On "You are pretty even when you are sweaty."

(There's another line, but it's a spoiler so not posting it here!)


For the promotions, "Bad Boys by Mad Clown" collaborated with the film. It is a fast-paced fun track. I haven't been able to track its lyrics. Will need to type it out from the subtitles if I don't find it anywhere. I love the edit of the video - it has the best sequences from the film - without giving away the story.




Here are some gorgeous frames from the film to swoon over Siwan.


The bad boy Siwan!


Pensive Siwan.

The oh-so-sweet chocolate-boy Siwan (yes, it's from the same film!)


Tearful Siwan.


Intense Siwan.


Nonchalant Siwan.


Innocent Siwan.


Sun-kissed Siwan.


Here's the trailer for The Merciless with English subtitles - But, I recommend that you watch the film without watching the trailer as it has some spoilers.


Here's a fun edit by another fan. It has some spoilers, but you won't mind it, I think. Wish it was with subtitles.


Here's another fun edit - The title is 50 shades of scoundrel! (The Korean title of the film "Buhandang" literally translates to scoundrel)


Unfortunately, I could only get to watch the Merciless on Apple TV or YouTube with English audio. No option to watch it with the original audio. :(


I can't believe that in 2019 they decided to make an English version of this, instead of promoting this masterpiece. (Thankfully the English version is still not out. Please don't kill a good film.) Really wishing that Apple TV or any other platform releases this beauty with the original audio. It's torture to watch Siwan without his melodious voice!


Update: I have found the film with original audio - though without English subtitles. Great to see the film with Siwan's voice.


Here's a cool short clip talking about the launch of the film in English - with some stills from the script reading.


Here's a still from the film - can you see the consistency in the character?


Here is a promotional event with English subtitles.


Here are some behind the scenes visuals.







Siwan.



bottom of page