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Review

Taking the contours of an overheated European romance, Between Love and Hate strays from the typical reference points of the genre and essentially turns it inside out. The movie is staged largely as a knockabout farce — but one with serious overtones. It brims with scores of characters, mostly rude young thugs seemingly bent on botching their lives. They are a noisy, discordant and disruptive lot, and this is a fierce and furious atmosphere that would seem unlikely to engender anything as tender as love. But among them is the rebellious, incorrigible Yeon-ah, who pursues with a near self-destructive lust Jun-hee, the cad who leaves her a woman scorned. The film is reminiscent of the work of Jean-Jacques Beineix, especially 1986’s Betty Blue. Like that film, Between Love and Hate examines what happens when grown-up responsibilities collide with the reckless urges of youth and the regrets that often ensue. (Korean with English subtitles)

 -- Joe Baltake