The Man from Nowhere (2010)

A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug-and-organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.

Director:

Jeong-beom Lee

Writer:

Jeong-beom Lee

Stars:

Bin Won, Sae-ron Kim, Tae-hoon Kim

8 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bin Won	...	Cha Tae-sik
Sae-ron Kim	...	Jeong So-mi
Tae-hoon Kim	...	Kim Chi-gon
Hee-won Kim	...	Man-seok
Seong-oh Kim	...	Jong-seok
Jong-pil Lee	...	Detective No
Thanayong Wongtrakul	...	Ramrowan
Hyo-seo Kim	...	Hyo-jeong
Young-chang Song	...	Oh Myung-gyu
Su-ryun Baek	...	Old Woman (as Soo-ryeon Baek)
Kyeong-eup Nam	...	Section Chief
Do-won Jeong	...	Detective Park (as Jeong Do-won)
Do Won Kwak	...	Detective Kim
Seok-hyeon Jo	...	Moon Dal-seo
Sang-Kyeong Son	...	Bear

Storyline

An ex-special agent CHA Tae-shik's only connection to the rest of the world is a little girl, So-mi, who lives nearby. Her mother, Hyo-jeong smuggles drugs from a drug trafficking organization and entrusts Tae-shik with the product, without letting him know. The traffickers find out about her smuggling and kidnap both Hyo-jeong and So-mi. The gang promises to release them if Tae-shik makes a delivery for them, however it actually is a larger plot to eliminate a rival drug ring leader. When Hyo-jeon's disemboweled body is discovered, Tae-shik realizes that So-mi's life may also be in danger. Tae-shik becomes enraged at the prospect that So-mi may already be dead and prepares for a battle, putting his own life at risk.

---

Plot Keywords:

revenge | drugs | pawnshop | police | drug trafficking | 

---

Taglines:

Nothing to lose, nothing to compromise

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean English

Release Date:

5 August 2010 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The Man from Nowhere

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Service, Opus Pictures, United Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The phone Cha Tae-Sik uses is a Samsung A900M.

---

Quotes

Storekeeper: [to Tae-Sik Cha] Kids will learn from their mistakes. Parenting isn't just giving birth. She's always by herself. Bring her around more often, like the other dads. It's on me.

---

Connections

Remade as The Man from Nowhere

---

Soundtracks

Dear
by Mad Soul Child

User Reviews

Wow

Simply wow.

A lot of people are put off by foreign language films and I hope those people don't let that stop them from watching this.

It has all the panache of a typical Hollywood film and I have to disagree with some comments that the back-story aspect is lacking compared with the action; my exact thoughts when watching this film were along the lines of "I cannot believe how genuine the character development is". The bond between the two main characters is extremely believable (huge props to the actress who played the young kid). I thought the fact that the film wasn't edited down to the hour-and-half standard probably gave them more room to develop and for an action film, there was much more intelligence than I was expecting to the story.

One of the best films I have seen in a long time.

9/10