The Old Woman with the Knife: Redundant Action Fare

Coming in with a title as evocative as The Old Woman and the Knife (or Pagwa), the film prepares audiences for the makings of quite the violent affair, and in this sense, it is definitely not misleading. The film indeed features an old woman armed with her trusty knife as she embarks on a personal journey to stave off the physical and mental decline that often come with aging. The story sees the titular old woman, an elderly assassin known as Hornclaw, played by Hong Sang-Soo mainstay Lee Hye-Young, now found herself a relic in a world seeking to pass her by.

The agency Hornclaw gave her life to, has now changed its direction, leaving her position lacking the righteousness that once made it a job worth killing for. However, her transition into a quieter life would be interrupted following the recruitment of Bullfight (Kim Sung-Cheol), a young and brazen assassin who takes a particular interest in the now old and frail godmother. From there, the two would collide in a game of cat-and-mouse, taking audiences through a series of flashbacks as their battle became one of age versus experience, in other words, old school versus new school.

Despite its engaging title, The Old Woman and the Knife struggles to be much more than its title, leading to infrequent action and in turn, making for an unengaging and boring affair. To her credit, Hye-Young’s Hornclaw is an immediately interesting figure, donning an attire unbecoming of her practice as she weaves through locations, dispatching ‘pests’ with her knife before returning home to her life of relative solitude. Meanwhile, the film begins with a punch, throwing audiences into a bleak world as spectators bear witness to acts of intense violence, offering insight into the world of the film and its characters. The film maintains this tone even when becoming disjointed and something more akin to many other Korean thrillers, with its bleak and knife-heavy violence reminiscent of such films as 2010’s Man from Nowhere.

That being said, The Old Woman with the Knife truly begins to struggle once the cat-and-mouse game between Hornclaw and Bullfight is introduced, as the film turns to a marathon of tropes and flashbacks, with some action sprinkled in. As mentioned, while the action is well executed, and watching an older woman stab villains full of holes and get tossed across rooms is undoubtedly entertaining, it is all in service of a less interesting narrative, which is especially disappointing considering how the film is as visually inviting as it was.

Though there are plenty of memorable moments to be had throughout, with a runtime of just over two hours, the film’s lack of an engaging narrative will surely begin to wear away at the collective patience of audiences, as they will find themselves checking out until its violent finale. That finale that, while entertaining, feels relatively weightless due to a lack of engagement (despite some amazing editing and a great transition). Among the many tropes the film leans on, one of them is that of the crazy and unhinged young murderer, a character who is lost and unguided. While Kim Sung-Cheol delivers an admirable performance as Bullfight, he is a character archetype that has become incredibly contrived at this point, yet appears to always poke its head out across Korean action thrillers. 

At the end of the day, The Old Woman with the Knife has enough to like to be considered worthwhile for some; its well directed action and solid performances help elevate a film that is otherwise merely a redundant South Korean action film, and one emblematic of the tedious tropes of the genre.

Score: 50/100

still courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

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Brad Simon

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