I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

My goodness how much i was moved by the story,, I'm not sure of it was based on a somewhat true events after the Korean war, but i'd say it is probable , i mean now a days we hear of people selling their organs out of poverty .The script was well written ,, the comedy part was witty and light while injected into a strong emotional drama ,, even though the movie was about two hours , the events felt like skipping so fast and at some point with high level of tension till we reached the end where i was really about to tear up.The cast was well picked,, before this i watched Jung-woo Ha in Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds which was produced two years after this :D but anyway ,, he was amazing, which what encouraged me find this movie in the first place and watch it.Final thought ,, It's highly recommended ,, and don't be scared , it won't point out any historical slow boring events whatsoever ,, so watch it now ;)

I don't know how Ha chose this story for making a film! Such a simple, wonderful piece of emotion!!Technically, not a great piece, just an okay one. Not a great Screenplay, Camera-work. May be that was one of the reasons for its commercial failure. But emotionally!!! Amazing!!Hats Off!!Salute to the small wonder: the eldest son, perhaps his name is: Nam Da-reum (apology if I've mistaken his name). I have hardly seen a child in my entire life to cry and act so faithfully!!! May God bless him. Salute to the Hero and Director of the film: Ha Jung-woo. An honest approach, a great effort.

This movie is supposedly an adaptation of a book with the same title. I watched it without any idea about this fact and have say to that I absolutely hated it. The story is completely incoherent and it seems like a jumbled array of scenes put together shot in complete isolation. There is no logic to be found even for a single minute. The director seemed to have completely lost the track of direction and has put together a 124 min long cesspool that should absolutely be avoided. The movie had decent rating although with very few votes and had "Jung-woo Ha" who has givem some seriously solid performances in Assassination, Chaser, The Berlin File, The Yellow Sea and many more. I dove in to watch this as a result. I wonder what made him choose such a stupid venture to act in. I can't say that I wasn't warned in advance. The second scene which introduces Ji-won Ha as the popcorn selling dame itself was filmed to immaculate imperfection. It almost made me turn off my laptop but I though it might get better and stuck with it. But believe me, it doesn't. The story keeps going downhill and gets caught in a spiral of clichés, melodrama and the worst degree of film making. In the 124 mins you will be treated to people getting married in a day, getting a nose bleed and dying the next day. The story jumps to and fro without any explanation as to how a successful popcorn business went down the drain. And the acting by any of the participants wasn't of any help either. The tile saying "blood merchant" would make you believe that the plot would revolve around it. But sadly that's not the case. That part is hardly touched in the movie apart from last 30 mins. All in all this was one the worst Korean flicks I have ever seen. Take my advice and please save your 2 hours.

As a man who have read the origin book. The Chronicle of a Blood Merchant is a edited movie which changes a lot. However, what should be admitted is that some of the sections look more suitable for a MOVIE or just a book acted by human. Dislike the edition of the ending though, I have become a fan of Jung-woo Ha, the director, also the star in it. Also, the actor of Heo Sam-gwan's first son is both good-looking and good-acting. As a Chinese, I am certainly looking forward to that such a good book could be made to be a movie and show on the screens, however, in the meantime environment of Chinese mainland movie market, my hope can just be a hope.