The President's Last Bang
Kino International | Release Date: October 14, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
From mid-movie on, confusion escalates (along with one's incredulity). Read full review
60
VarietyDerek Elley
South Korean cinema finally gets its first full-blown political satire with The President's Last Bang, a virtuoso slice of sustained black humor. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
This South Korean political satire might not have historical resonance for American audiences -- it's loosely based on the 1979 assassination of dictator Park Chunghee by his own people -- but it takes the same comically dim view of governmental power and procedure as "Dr. Strangelove." Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Tight, sober and strangely comical. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Take the real-life 1979 assassination of Park Chung-hee, the despotic, hedonistic, seal-testicle-loving president of South Korea, and stage it as if the Marx Brothers were running the country, and you might get The President's Last Bang. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
Almost satirical. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
This meticulously well-made picture is disarmingly funny at times - not least during the ballet of bloody absurdity that is the assassination itself - but also subdued and straight-faced, with one eye planted on 1979 and the other on the violent student demonstrations looming in the distance. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
An outrageous, savagely comical account of the disastrous circumstances surrounding the assassination of dictatorial South Korean President Park Chung Hee in 1979. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The funniest film you'll see this year about a political assassination. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Though The President's Last Bang is undeniably dense-with more than a dozen significant characters-the particulars aren't too tough to understand. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJanice Page
Writer-director Im Sang Soo's coolly stylized political satire doesn't provide a lot of answers, unfortunately, but it does show how the future of a nation might turn on a few drunken insults thrown around at a high-level dinner party. Read full review
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