Noon-e-neun noon I-e-neun i (2008)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Directors:

Kwon-tae Ahn
Kyung-Taek Kwak

Writers:

Kwon-tae Ahn (screenplay)
Dong-Woo Kim (writer)

Release Date:

30 July 2008 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Plot:

The devious brain behind a heist draws a top police detective, on the eve of his retirement, into an elaborate plot of robbery and revenge. |

Cast

Seung-won Cha	...	Ahn Hyon-min
Suk-kyu Han	...	Capt. Baek Sung-chan
In-gi Jeong	...	Hwang Min-cheol
Ji-seok Kim	...	Song Yoo-gon
Yoon-tae Kim	...	Detective Kim
Byeong-jun Lee	...	Antonio
Byung-joon Lee	...	Antonio
Jae-goo Lee	...	Detective Park
Seong-Gyoo Lim	...	Cha Yeong-jae
Byeong-wook Son	...	Kim Do-soo
Young-chang Song	...	Kim Hyun-tae

Also Known As:

Eye for an Eye (International: English title) (informal title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Korea

Company:

Taewon Entertainment

Even popcorn films aren't easy to translate?

"Eye for an Eye" is a decent time-killer, though I was generally disappointed by what seems like patchwork results from a well-known troubled production (not to mention both of its stars had headlined much more quixotic and competent thrillers in the past: The Scarlet Letter, A Bloody Aria, Blood Rain, The Big Scene.)

From the movie's beta-phase promotion, shown online before its release date was moved repeated from Spring to Summer, we have indications of an original draft with more complicated tussles between law enforcement and big business. Could the original intention have been a more hard-boiled, corporate thriller?

Nonetheless, from several Korean and Japanese sources, it seems the incoherent plot twist can be attributed in part to omission by the translator.

Our old-timer cop is subtly preserving old-school traditions: he insists on speaking in honorifics with his younger staff. Even during angry tantrums, he berates them with a verbal elegance and gentlemanly respect bordering on sarcastic. Later when confronting the mastermind criminal, he establishes their birth years (year of Tiger, versus year of Dog) and rank by seniority, and makes a big drama out of demanding respect as an elder.

This emphasis on formality, before the usual cops-and-robbers conflict, leads to his "noblesse oblige" in the plot twist. It would be much more credible and cohesive a point, had the actors been on the same page with the director - a difficult thing for he was replaced halfway through the production!