Moss (2010)

[One Armed Boxer]

I recently watched this movie after having it sitting on my shelf for a couple of years, due to being constantly put off by its hefty 163 minute run-time. Thankfully, I'm glad I decided to give it a go, as the run time flies by and I didn't glance at my watch even once during the whole thing.

Directed by Kang Woo-seok and based on a web comic (Woo-seok also based his last movie on a web comic, 'Fists of Legend'), the movie tells the tale of a mysterious countryside village which was created in the 1970's by a preacher and a detective, to rehabilitate hardened criminals using the word of God.

Skip forward to the present day, and after the preacher passes away by what are assumed to be natural circumstances, his son appears out of the woodwork with suspicions that foul play may be afoot. He hardly gets a warm welcome though, with the detective now in the role of the highly influential village head, being played by Jeong Jae-yeong in some outstanding aged makeup, seemingly eager for him to return back to Seoul and leave them all be.

As the movie unfolds on a slow boil, but never one which isn't brimming with tension just underneath the surface, secrets begin to be revealed, and the son learns that things are far from the peaceful community the village portrays itself as. 'Moss' was a really fantastic movie, and one which keeps you guessing as to everyone's motives and intentions until the very end.

Park Hae-il is great as the inquisitive city boy from Seoul, who wants answers around how his father died, and is ably backed up by Yoo Joon-sang, who because of Hae-il is now a disgraced lawyer working out in the sticks, but also has his doubts as to the cause of the fathers death. The whole movie really hinges on the performance of Jae-yong though, who in some startlingly convincing aged makeup plays the village head with a commanding authority and presence, and makes for an intimidating protagonist.

For those who are fans of tense thrillers, 'Moss' comes strongly recommended, and refreshingly none of the run time is filler, instead letting the plot and characters develop on the way to a satisfying finale. Definitely worth your time.

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