IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
A look at the life of President Park Chung-hee and the events leading up to his assassination.A look at the life of President Park Chung-hee and the events leading up to his assassination.A look at the life of President Park Chung-hee and the events leading up to his assassination.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 4 nominations
Photos
Baek Yun-shik
- KCIA Director Kim
- (as Yun-shik Baek)
Song Jae-ho
- President Park Chung-hee
- (as Jae-ho Song)
Kim Eung-soo
- KCIA Agent Colonel Min
- (as Eung-soo Kim)
Kwon Byung-gil
- President's Chief Secretary Yang
- (as Byung-gil Kwon)
Jo Eun-ji
- Banquet Guest
- (as Eun-ji Jo)
Jong-jun Jeong
- Chief of Staff
- (as Jong-jun Jung)
Lee Jae-goo
- KCIA Agent Kwon
- (as Jae-goo Lee)
Kim Sang-ho
- KCIA Agent Jang
- (as Sang-ho Kim)
Kim Seung-wook
- KCIA Agent Won
- (as Seung-wook Kim)
Kim Joon-bae
- KCIA Agent Song
- (as Tae-han Kim)
Jeong In-gi
- Deputy Shin
- (as In-gi Jeong)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPresident's Park Chun-hee's son took the film-makers to court to block the release as he claimed it tarnished the image of his father.
- GoofsKCIA Director Kim at one point refers to the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, which occurred three years after the events depicted in the film.
Featured review
A brutally effective amalgam of political film and violent actioner
US release: fall 2005. Shown at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, October 2005
After Park Chunghee became President of South Korea by military coup in 1961 he made major contributions to the country's industrialization and economic development but became a dictator by altering the constitution and declaring martial law. He must have had many enemies, and there had already been other assassination attempts by 1979, the moment depicted in the film, when Kim Jaegyu, his KCIA chief, shot him and several of those closest to him at a private bacchanal held at a palatial KCIA safe house. The events are depicted from Kim's point of view. "The President's Last Bang," which is brutal in its unreflective, intense, present energy, is half political film and half violent actioner. It amply shows how corrupt and cynical Park was; how much Koreans at this point enjoyed kicking, punching, and slapping their subordinates in front of others; their abusive and demeaning treatment of women; and their penchants for smoking and chewing gum. After the killings which went on to include military guards and even cooks there was a brief period of chaos, also well covered in the film. Kim expected to get away with it, but he and his closest accomplices are soon apprehended. Director I'm includes humor amid the horror, showing the clumsiness and confusion and sheer incompetence of some of the participants. It's interesting to observe how impulsive and improvised the shootings were, and how often the ruling class shifts in their conversation to the Japanese language to be more elegant or avoid being understood by underlings. The film is effective technically and illustrates South Korean cinema's growing sophistication, but it may leave non-Korean viewers cold; the film-making style feels as hard and brutal as the events.
After Park Chunghee became President of South Korea by military coup in 1961 he made major contributions to the country's industrialization and economic development but became a dictator by altering the constitution and declaring martial law. He must have had many enemies, and there had already been other assassination attempts by 1979, the moment depicted in the film, when Kim Jaegyu, his KCIA chief, shot him and several of those closest to him at a private bacchanal held at a palatial KCIA safe house. The events are depicted from Kim's point of view. "The President's Last Bang," which is brutal in its unreflective, intense, present energy, is half political film and half violent actioner. It amply shows how corrupt and cynical Park was; how much Koreans at this point enjoyed kicking, punching, and slapping their subordinates in front of others; their abusive and demeaning treatment of women; and their penchants for smoking and chewing gum. After the killings which went on to include military guards and even cooks there was a brief period of chaos, also well covered in the film. Kim expected to get away with it, but he and his closest accomplices are soon apprehended. Director I'm includes humor amid the horror, showing the clumsiness and confusion and sheer incompetence of some of the participants. It's interesting to observe how impulsive and improvised the shootings were, and how often the ruling class shifts in their conversation to the Japanese language to be more elegant or avoid being understood by underlings. The film is effective technically and illustrates South Korean cinema's growing sophistication, but it may leave non-Korean viewers cold; the film-making style feels as hard and brutal as the events.
helpful•150
- Chris Knipp
- Nov 17, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Geuddae geusaramdeul
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $9,724
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,862
- Oct 16, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $9,724
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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