David O'ConnellTHE CHASER @ The Melbourne International Film Festival
July 30th 2009 05:31
We’re becoming accustomed to a certain level of sophistication in South Korean cinema these days and The Chaser is another classy addition to the growing list of impressive films reaching our shores. It’s a strong debut from director Na Hong-jin, though not in the league of Kim Ji-woon’s A Bittersweet Life (2005) or Chan-wook Park’s acclaimed 'revenge' trilogy, highlighted by the astonishing Oldboy (2003).
A new theme is emerging in their cinema as well: the police drama with a barely veiled jab at the country’s lax policing capabilities. It seems that even in the face of incontrovertible evidence, the authorities often seem incapable of tallying the necessary sums to serve justice.
This is the predicament facing former detective Jung-Ho (Kim Yun-seok) who now runs a string of call-girls. When two of them go missing he pieces together clues on his own, linking common elements to a mysterious client Jung-woo (Jee Young-min) he suspects has kidnapped the women for sale. Using another stable star, the ill and reluctant Kim (Yeong-hie Seo) as bait, he decides to track the culprit down and serve justice with own two hands.
Capturing his suspect is only the beginning of Joong-ho’s misadventure as things quickly become tangled in a mess of counter investigations. Joong-ho knows he has his man, but convincing the police is another matter entirely. They need proof and are naturally skeptical of their disgraced former colleague and his dubious means of apprehension.
Will justice be served? Can the police unstraighten the truth from the lies? Can they believe the contradictory Jung-woo even after he admits to being a serial killer? It’ll be an arduous, unpredictable journey getting to the bottom of this one.
The Chaser is incredibly slick and attractive, admirably upholding the high quality associated with this decade’s spate of Korean crime thrillers. Director Na Hong-jin’s screenplay (co-written with Lee Shinho and Hong Won-chan) offers some early suspense but there’s no element of mystery in a sense, with the killer’s identity never in doubt. This effectively strips the film of a possibly strong through-line.
Instead we’re kept entertained by the battering the police force’s reputation receives whilst a series of roadblocks are thrown in Jung-ho’s path, thwarting his attempts to find the missing Kim. In time, his frustration becomes our own in confronting a level of incompetence that borders on negligence.
Though never dull, length is certainly an issue; stretched to over 120 minutes, its middle section feels padded out somewhat with the often extraneous back and forths of argument, clue-gathering and hypothesising. Kim Yun-seok helps offset that with a memorable, charismatic performance in the lead. He’s another of those effortlessly cool Korean characters replete with blackly humourous quips at the ready and a taste for violent expression to get his point across.
The director plays up many dark moments for their ironic, often ludicrous, potential but some choice nasty scenes are saved for Jung-woo’s treatment of his victims. One near the climax is particularly stomach-churning, wallowing in each methodical, bloody stoke of an execution-by-hammer. Some flagrant melodramatic touches seem slightly incongrous in the final scenes whilst a killer who seems destined to never be punished as a result of fateful twists and dereliction of duty also adds unnecessarily to both the running time and tolerance levels.
Though not living up to its hype as the next big thing in Korean cinema, The Chaser is still a worthy companion piece to its more illustrious competitors of recent times.
A new theme is emerging in their cinema as well: the police drama with a barely veiled jab at the country’s lax policing capabilities. It seems that even in the face of incontrovertible evidence, the authorities often seem incapable of tallying the necessary sums to serve justice.
This is the predicament facing former detective Jung-Ho (Kim Yun-seok) who now runs a string of call-girls. When two of them go missing he pieces together clues on his own, linking common elements to a mysterious client Jung-woo (Jee Young-min) he suspects has kidnapped the women for sale. Using another stable star, the ill and reluctant Kim (Yeong-hie Seo) as bait, he decides to track the culprit down and serve justice with own two hands.
Capturing his suspect is only the beginning of Joong-ho’s misadventure as things quickly become tangled in a mess of counter investigations. Joong-ho knows he has his man, but convincing the police is another matter entirely. They need proof and are naturally skeptical of their disgraced former colleague and his dubious means of apprehension.
Will justice be served? Can the police unstraighten the truth from the lies? Can they believe the contradictory Jung-woo even after he admits to being a serial killer? It’ll be an arduous, unpredictable journey getting to the bottom of this one.
The Chaser is incredibly slick and attractive, admirably upholding the high quality associated with this decade’s spate of Korean crime thrillers. Director Na Hong-jin’s screenplay (co-written with Lee Shinho and Hong Won-chan) offers some early suspense but there’s no element of mystery in a sense, with the killer’s identity never in doubt. This effectively strips the film of a possibly strong through-line.
Instead we’re kept entertained by the battering the police force’s reputation receives whilst a series of roadblocks are thrown in Jung-ho’s path, thwarting his attempts to find the missing Kim. In time, his frustration becomes our own in confronting a level of incompetence that borders on negligence.
Though never dull, length is certainly an issue; stretched to over 120 minutes, its middle section feels padded out somewhat with the often extraneous back and forths of argument, clue-gathering and hypothesising. Kim Yun-seok helps offset that with a memorable, charismatic performance in the lead. He’s another of those effortlessly cool Korean characters replete with blackly humourous quips at the ready and a taste for violent expression to get his point across.
The director plays up many dark moments for their ironic, often ludicrous, potential but some choice nasty scenes are saved for Jung-woo’s treatment of his victims. One near the climax is particularly stomach-churning, wallowing in each methodical, bloody stoke of an execution-by-hammer. Some flagrant melodramatic touches seem slightly incongrous in the final scenes whilst a killer who seems destined to never be punished as a result of fateful twists and dereliction of duty also adds unnecessarily to both the running time and tolerance levels.
Though not living up to its hype as the next big thing in Korean cinema, The Chaser is still a worthy companion piece to its more illustrious competitors of recent times.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I'm looking forward to catching up with this on DVD, as it didn't play at the Sydney Festival (sigh). Apparently being remade by the team behind The Departed remake, although whether that means Scorsese directing I'm not sure, and I doubt it.