As hard-boiled tales of moral redemption go, Breathless is a right knuckle-duster.

We will give Yang, the film's writer, director, and star, the benefit of the doubt by assuming his chronicle of relentless cruelty is not autobiographical.

Although his first film is only a partial success, Yang Ik-june is a filmmaker worth watching for.

By the time the emotionally charged climax rolls around, we are completely invested in this hard-to-love brut. Yang has more in common with Shane Meadows way of filmmaking than what its English title evokes.