Bad Guy (2001) Nabbeun namja (original title)

Director:

Ki-duk Kim

Writer:

Ki-duk Kim

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Trapped in a world of pleasure and pain ...

Plot:

In busy downtown Seoul, a thuggish young man notices a fresh-faced college student who sits on a bench...

Plot Keywords:

Bench | College Student | Seoul | Soldier | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jae-hyeon Jo	...	Han-ki
Won Seo	...	Sun-hwa
Yun-tae Kim	...	Yun-tae
Duek-mun Choi	...	Myeong-su
Yoon-young Choi	...	Hyun-ja
Yoo-jin Shin	...	Min-jung
Jung-young Kim	...	Eun-hye
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gung-Min Nam	...	Hyun-su

Directed by
Ki-duk Kim

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ki-duk Kim

Produced by
Seung-beom Kim	....	executive producer
Seung-jae Lee	....	producer

Original Music by
Ho-jun Park

Cinematography by
Cheol-hyeon Hwang

Film Editing by
Seong-won Hang

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chang-ho Cho	....	assistant director

Production Companies

• LJ Film
• Prime Entertainment

Distributors

• Vanguard Cinema (2000) (worldwide) (all media)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Lifesize Entertainment (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• SPO (Japan) (theatrical)
• Tartan (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• CJ Entertainment
• Lifesize Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• MTV Netherlands (2007) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)
• Tartan Video (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Total Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Nabbeun namja" - South Korea (original title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Norway:15 | Italy:VM18 (DVD) (self-applied) | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:III

Company:

LJ Film

Soundtrack:

I tuoi fiori

She should know she is only worth 50 bucks.

I loved Korean director Ki-duk Kim's The Isle, and this film is just as good. It may not be to everyone's taste as it is a dark film about obsession.

Han-ki (Jae-hyeon Jo) is a hood. We never really know how important he is, but he does run a brothel. He becomes obsessed with a beautiful college student, Sun-hwa (Won Seo), who rejects and disses him. He can't rise to her level, so he will bring her down to his.

He sets her up and forces her to borrow from a loan shark to get out of trouble. When she can't pay, she is brought into the brothel. He watches her humiliation from behind a two-way mirror.

Many weeks/months/years later, after Han-Ki goes to jail, one of his men offers to let her go. She realizes she cannot return to her former life. She stays.

The ending took a couple of twists and turns and ended up in a totally unexpected place. Brilliant!