Gonggongui jeog (2002)

Director:

Woo-Suk Kang

Writer:

Hyeon-jeong Kim (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 January 2002 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

Ruthless cop Chul-joong and a merciless killer in raincoat run into each other in a small alleyway and form a fatal bond...

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Kyung-gu Sol	...	Cheol-jung, Kang
Sung-jae Lee	...	Kyu-hwan, Jo
Shin-il Kang	...	Chief Investigator Eom
Jeong-hak Kim	...	Detective Kim
Yong-gu Do	...	Detective Nam
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew Crawford	...	Policeman / Gangster 1 (voice: English version)
Ju-bong Gi
Kan-hie Lee
Brandon Scott Peters	...	Detective Kim (voice: English version)
Tae-hwa Seo
Ji-ru Sung
Eun-yong Yang
Hae-jin Yu

Also Known As:

Public Enemy (International: English title)
Public's Enemy (literal title)

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Norway:18 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Germany:16 (cut) | Japan:R-15 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | Italy:T

Company:

Cinema Service

Quotes:

Cheol-jung, Kang: Know what cops are usually called?
Detective Kim: Pigs.
[Cheol-jung, Kang hits the table with his glass]
Detective Kim: Protector of the public.
Cheol-jung, Kang: Right, protector of the public. I'm Protector Kang of the pubic. And Kim Young-soo is?
Detective Kim: Protector of the public.
Cheol-jung, Kang: A son who killed his parents is usually called an immoral person. From now, we call them public enemy. A what?
Detective Kim: Public enemy.
Cheol-jung, Kang: I can't hear you. A what?
Detective Kim: Public enemy!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Followed by Gonggongui jeog 2 (2005)

Too comic and loses focus on the possible rich thriller it could have been

The trailer makes this movie seem like a slick visually rich thriller about a cop chasing down a cold killer, unfortunately the film doesn't live up to that premise.

Movie There's certainly some strong character moments but they are left under developed and under explored, they're treated all too lightly and often too comically. The visually slick scenes are also too underused and separated by weak character follow through, so one strong moment on screen isn't built upon with the characters.

The film is very much a merging of two styles, taught thriller and often slapstick comedy. For me this just doesn't work, these two styles belong far apart.

The story focuses on the rise of a killer pitched against the fall of a cop, a cop who has given up on his career and any morale boundaries, believing only in himself and obtaining cash any way he can.

As the killer rises in his chosen path the cop stumbles upon him, realises and then finds a purpose to his job. Yet this is not is salvation, it comes as he reaches his lowest point and all there is left is the single, all consuming cause of catching the killer.

It's really interesting to read the plot like that as it does read as a good movie, but intersperse the comedy and the unexplored avenues of the characters and story, and it really does bring the movie down. It's not just a case of realising these lost opportunities after the fact, as they pop up I actually caught myself audibly questioning why they'd just walked away from a scene. At times it was a frustrating movie.

You'll see this in some of the decisions the cop makes and the investigations. They're all too convenient and almost too much of a leap not only to believe but also to understand. This and the weak, unexplored characters don't bring any affinity to the audience.

That's the failing part of the movie. As it could have been such a great film combining American Psycho and Heat, but it just never gets that far and just gets distracted.

Audio Presented: Dolby Digital 2.0 / 5.1, DTS The audio is solid here with a good DTS soundtrack, but nothing special that takes advantage of the speakers available. The music sometimes overpowered the story at key points, and at others was quite effective, but overall quite forgettable.

Picture Presented: 16:9 Anamorphic Good picture overall with some difficult scenes combining night and rain together, they look dark and dreary yet retaining a bold contrast.

Extras Presented: Behind the Scenes, Deleted Scenes, Music Video, Outtakes, Asia Extreme Trailers The Behind the Scenes were interesting, showing such things as the recreation of full upper body sculptures from the actors for the dead characters. There's also a lot more insight into the characters and how the actors played them.

The Deleted Scenes and Outtakes were simply that, although some proved quite amusing at repeating the slapstick moments. The music video is quite good, as are the Extreme Trailers, but an overall poorer offering in terms of extras.

Overall A very interesting plot that just gets glossed over far too quickly, and with the concentration seeming to be on the comedy rather than character and story progression, it doesn't really attract too well. It's an interesting DVD to watch, but an unfulfilling story.