Chingoo (2001)

Director:

Kyung-Taek Kwak

Writer:

Kyung-Taek Kwak (writer)

Release Date:

31 March 2001 (South Korea)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

Despite their different family backgrounds, four friends grew up together in the wearisome years of the 70s...

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | Betrayal

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Oh-seong Yu	...	Lee Jeong-suk (as Ohsung Yoo)
Dong-Kun Jang	...	Lee Han Dong-su
Tae-hwa Seo	...	Sang-taek
Un-taek Jeong	...	Jeong-ho
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ju-bong Gi
Hyeon Ju
Bo-kyeong Kim	...	Jin-sook
Chang Yun

Also Known As:

Chingu (South Korea) (alternative transliteration)
Friend (International: English title)

Runtime:

113 min | Finland:118 min | Argentina:118 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:18 | Singapore:R(A) | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Japan:R-15 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Hong Kong:III

Company:

Cineline 2

Trivia:

The group of friends are based on the director and his friends that he grew up with.

Quotes:

Sang-taek: I'm sorry.
Lee Jeong-suk: You don't need to say that to a friend.

Movie Connections:

Features Barbara Broadcast (1977)

Friendship, the Korean way.

Last year, "Chin goo (AKA Friend)" became the highest grossing film in Korean history, surpassing the highly acclaimed "Joint Security Area" and "Shiri". Many observers were curious as to the secret to its success. Was it because of the gangsters? the actors?

The main reason for this movie's phenomenal success was the fact that is was a very good movie about male friendship. In Korean culture, friendship between guys is a very strong relationship. Especially in the city in which the movie is set - Pusan - loyalty and sacrifice for friendship is seen as a very important part of honour.

In this movie, friendship is tested to the limit from beginning to end, as the movie's two main leads (Yoo Oh Sung and Jang Dong Gun) grow from being teenage rebels to big-time gangsters. The catch is, when they grow up, they become very different types of gangsters. One becomes a JOPOK - equivalent to the Korean Mafia, respected by the Korean people for sometimes punishing bad people. And the other becomes more of a thug gangster who kills and steals for fun.

The direction is excellent, but the acting is the element which holds the film together as a whole. The two leads are two very different actors. The first, Yoo Oh-Sung, plays the Mafia gangster and has a very tough-as-nails look and uses method acting skills. The second (arguably Korea's most popular actor right now) chews scenery with Chow Yun Fat-like charisma and striking looks.

if you enjoy gangster movies or movies about friendship, this will be a dream movie for you