Directed by: Shin Han-sol (신한솔) Starring: Baek Yun-shik (백윤식), Jae Hee (재희) Release Date: January 5th, 2006
Whether it be Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars or Mister Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid, mentor relationships have always played a dramatic part in underdog stories. Typically against immense odds, the mentor works to instill the necessary character, confidence, and skill in an otherwise average individual who takes aim at toppling a formidable foe. 2006’s The Art of Fighting is one such story in this familiar tradition but comes with its own unusual blend of dark comedy, action and drama. The result is surprisingly nontraditional in several ways and its emphasis on the important value a mentor figure plays on developing young men is its most powerful takeaway.
While attending a vocational high school for students with low academic aptitude, Byeong-tae (Jae Hee) gets beaten up and bullied almost every day by a group of school thugs. Although wishing to fight back, his meek and soft spoken nature prove no match for his tormentors. Determined to learn how to defend himself, Byeong-tae begins to study up on martial arts techniques and seeks out the tutelage of a master fighter.
One day, Byeong-tae witnesses a disheveled older man named Pansu (Baek Yun-shik) single-handedly knockout a large gangster at a local sauna. Convinced he’s found his master, Byeong-tae begs the enigmatic man to take him on as his student. Pansu, caught up in his own troubles with the law and organized crime, is reluctant to help the boy. But after Byeong-tae agrees to his terms: never doubting the training and paying for all the food and drinks, Pansu begins to instill his unique fighting philosophy in Byeong-tae.
The Art of Fighting looks and feels so much like an early modern Korean film with its daring approach to genre and story conventions. The characters sometimes feel to have come straight off the pages of a comic book with their excessively inflated character traits. Whether its Pansu’s relentless farting that initiate his fight in the sauna or his special fighting technique of throwing a coin so hard that it sticks into the wall like a ninja star, there’s a fun ridiculousness that rides alongside the serious and downright brutal nature of the film. Coupled with some occasional over-the-top costuming and make-up, characters engage in ruthless attacks on one another that hover just over the point of becoming disturbing.
The actual fight scenes in The Art of Fighting leave a lot to be desired. Nowhere near the high level of fight choreography you might see in other Korean films, the action blocking is simple and the big hits often come in quick cuts or masked with a reaction shot cutaway. This is pretty much the standard workaround when you don’t have an action coreographer like Jung Doo-hong though. It actually works quite well in one scene when the film cuts to a stray dog appearing to look merciful upon a fallen and bloodied body of one of Byeong-tae’s failed martial arts teachers.
The Art of Fighting also feels somewhat crudely edited together. The repeat beatings Byeong-tae takes at school become repetitive and his growth as a fighter progresses strangely. Just when he seems to get better, he’s right back at square one in the next scene. It was fun once or twice to mark his confidence and skill level to be out of balance but it was also frustrating to not see any actual growth for so long. There are also several subplots that feel underdeveloped. These include the criminality surrounding Pansu’s mysterious backstory, the relationship between Byeong-tae and his uninspiring father who is a detective on the police force, and that of Byeong-tae’s best friend at school.
Jae Hee (3-Iron) is convincing enough as the tormented and directionless student. He has an unusually small number of speaking lines, albeit much more than he did in 3-Iron (2004), but not much more in the opening twenty minutes or so. He does use his eyes and facial expressions in The Art of Fighting just as effectively though. Baek Yun-shik (Save the Green Planet!, The Big Swindle) is excellent as the unorthodox and chain-smoking fighting coach but it is far from his best role. He’s both mysterious and fun to watch despite his occasional face punches and arm-breaking action scenes looking a bit awkward.
But The Art of Fighting is at its best when it defies many of the expectations that come with the typical mentor relationship dynamics. While it was oddly put together, the way Byeong-tae doesn’t show drastic improvement after his training montage, often failing to implement the questionable tactics touted by his mentor, add comic relief and realism to the story. Instead of transforming into a fighting machine, Byeong-tae develops an improved endurance for taking a beating that either shocks his opponents into making a mistake or simply causes them to gas out. This reinforces the film’s central point that the character and confidence building aspect of mentorship outweigh sheer skill development in terms of long term survival in a harsh world.
There’s a true warrior’s mentality that underscores almost all of the film’s action and is perhaps best echoed in one of Pansu’s teachings: “The best fighters don’t fight.” Not quite what one would expect to hear when attempting to unlock the secrets to the art of fighting is it? This illustrates the paradoxical nature of the film and remains its most interesting feature. In a movie that is supposed to be about fighting, there is a considerable amount effort spent on avoiding conflicts until fighting becomes the only option.
All in all, the oddities are both the best and worst parts of The Art of Fighting. I found myself strangely disappointed but also energized by the brave and original direction the film took. It’s an interesting first feature film from writer and director Shin Han-sol that impresses more on the writing side than the direction. Shin’s most recent script for The Dude Inside Me (2019) is another great showcase for his witty and comical talents as a writer.
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