No Blood No Tears (2002)

Part of the South Korean New Wave, NO BLOOD, NO TEARS is a stylish film-noir thriller that not only blends gangster crime-drama with martial-arts action, but subverts the male dominion of those genres with two tough-as-nails female protagonists. Kyeong-seon (Hye-yeong Lee) is a streetsmart taxi driver whose husband has saddled her with gambling debts to violent loan sharks. Su-ji (Do-yeon Jeon) dreams of being a pop star while dealing with the physical abuse of her ex-boxer boyfriend Dok-Bul (Jae-yeong Jeong), who now works for notorious gangster KGB (Goo Shin). When Kyeong-seon and Su-ji meet in a fateful traffic accident, the women decide to change their stalemated lives, THELMA & LOUISE-style, by stealing money from KGB's illicit dogfighting ring--a risky endeavor that forces them into bloody confrontations with an assortment of gangsters and martial-arts toughs. Often compared to violence-maestro Quentin Tarantino, director Seung-wan Ryoo distinguishes his thrilling heist-caper with shadowy cinematography, lightning-quick editing, realistic fight sequences choreographed by tae-kwon-do master Doo-hong Jung, and vicious real-life dogfighting scenes.