The Thieves (2012) Dodookdeul (original title)

Director:

Dong-Hoon Choi

Writers:

Dong-Hoon Choi (screenplay) &
Gi-cheol Lee (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 July 2012 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Tagline:

All for the money. One for the revenge. Every man for himself.

Plot:

In order to let things cool down from their latest heist, Popeye and his group of thieves go to Macau on a job...

Plot Keywords:

Macau | Heist | Safecracker | Art Theft | Master Thief

Awards:

3 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Yun-seok Kim	...	Macao Park
Jung-Jae Lee	...	Popie
Hye-su Kim	...	Pepsee (as Kim Hye-soo)
Gianna Jun	...	Yenicall
Simon Yam	...	Chen
Hae-suk Kim	...	Chewingum (as Kim Hae-sook)
Dal-su Oh	...	Andrew (as Oh Dal-soo)
Soo Hyun Kim	...	Zampano
Kwok Cheung Tsang	...	Jonny (as Derek Tsang)
Jin-mo Ju	...	Detective (as Joo Jin-mo)
Guk-Seo Ki	...	Wei Hong
Duek-mun Choi	...	Casino Manager (as Choi Duk-moon)
Gook-hee Chae	...	Madame (as Chae Kuk-hee)
Soo-jeong Ye	...	Tiffany (as Ye Su-jeong)
Angelica Lee	...	Julie (as Lee Sinje)
Ha-kyun Shin	...	Director of Art Gallery
Kang-woo Kim
Jin-ho Choi	...	One-eyed Man
Byeong-wook Son	...	Yeong-sik
Young Ju Seo	...	Young Macao Park
Geon-woo Ji	...	Suit 1
Mun-cheol Kwon	...	Suit 2
Tae-kyeong Park
Jun-nyeong Jang
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hing-Hong Chan	...	Boat Owner
Vincent Chi	...	Police Patrolman 4
Icy Hui	...	Cafe Woman
Ling Yuen Lam	...	Casino Guard 2
Myung-Hun Lee	...	Casino Guard 1
Brian Li	...	Car Rental Staff
Oscar Li	...	Police Patrolman 2
Man-Wai Luk	...	Police Patrolman 3
So Wai Nam
Cake Wong	...	Jeweler Woman
Chui-Yee Wong		(as Tweety Wong)

Directed by
Dong-Hoon Choi

Writing credits
Dong-Hoon Choi		(screenplay) &
Gi-cheol Lee		(screenplay)

Produced by
Soo-hyun Ahn	....	producer
Chen On Chu	....	line producer: Hong Kong and Macau
Jeong-hun You	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Pa-lan Dal
Young-kyu Jang

Cinematography by
Yeong-hwan Choi		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Min-Kyung Shin

Production Design by
Ha-jun Lee

Costume Design by
Se-yeon Choi

Makeup Department
Seo-young Kim	....	makeup department head
Tae-young Kwak	....	special makeup effects artist
Hee Eun Lee	....	lead prosthetic makeup artist

Production Management
Pou Ian Ao	....	production manager: Macau
Shing Hung Chan	....	unit manager: Hong Kong (as Andy Chan)
Connie Cheung	....	assistant production manager: Hong Kong
Wendy Wong	....	production manager: Hong Kong and Macau

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kim-ching Luk	....	first assistant director: Hong Kong and Macau (as Sunny Luk)

Art Department
Chi Hang Ho	....	art director: Hong Kong
Chun Wah Hui	....	construction coordinator: Hong Kong
Chun Wah Hui	....	props: Hong Kong
Suki Lui	....	assistant art director: Hong Kong
Kloud Wan	....	assistant art director: Hong Kong

Sound Department
Hee-soo Eun	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Do-ahn Jung	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Kiyoung Jung	....	pipeline technical director
Ko Eun Koni Jung	....	visual effects coordinator
Ju-won Lee	....	visual effects supervisor
Il Hwan Na	....	matte painting supervisor
Min Jung Shin	....	digital compositor
Momo Yang	....	layout supervisor

Stunts
Seung-gu Gwon	....	stunts
Kwi-deok Kwon	....	stunts
Ji-oh Seo	....	stunts
Sang-seob Yoo	....	action choreographer

Camera and Electrical Department
Seong-gwan Kim	....	lighting technician
Chun-Shing Lam	....	best boy electrician: Hong Kong and Macau unit
Chun-Wan Lam	....	gaffer: Hong Kong and Macau unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kitty Chau	....	stylist: Hong Kong
Kitty Chau	....	wardrobe supervisor: Hong Kong

Other crew
Eddie Ho	....	weapons master
Frank Kim	....	translator
Su Hyun Kim	....	script supervisor
Feyon Li	....	production coordinator: Hong Kong
Yuk-sing Lo	....	on-set production assistant: Hong Kong
Kam-Fu Mak	....	production assistant: Macau
Paul Seto	....	weapons technician
Matthew Tai	....	assistant location manager: Hong Kong
Maurice Vy	....	key production assistant: Hong Kong
Kwok Sing Wong	....	on-set production assistant: Hong Kong
Chi Wai Yan	....	location manager: Hong Kong
Chung-yiu Yeung	....	on-set production assistant: Hong Kong
Ka Ho Yuen	....	on-set production assistant: Hong Kong

Production Companies

• CJ Venture Investment
• KM Culture Co.
• Michigan Venture Capital
• Showbox/Mediaplex

Distributors

• Mediatres Estudio (2013) (Spain) (all media)
• Well Go (2012) (USA) (all media)
• Mediatres Estudio (2013) (Andorra) (all media)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2012) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Dream Movie Australia (2012) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Live Viewing (2013) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Showbox/Mediaplex (2012) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Well Go (2013) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• EDKO Film (2012) (Hong Kong) (all media)

Special Effects

• Demolition (special effects)
• Digital Idea (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Bluecap  sound post-production
• Mediaplex  funding
• October Pictures  production service: Hong Kong
• Showbox Entertainment  funding

Also Known As:

"Dodookdeul" - South Korea (original title)

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | Cantonese | English | Mandarin | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG13 | USA:Not Rated | Australia:MA15+ | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Japan:G | New Zealand:R16

Company:

CJ Venture Investment

A Nutshell Review: The Thieves

The Thieves may look like Ocean's Eleven from the onset, with its star studded ensemble cast from South Korea and Hong Kong combining forces for the most parts in what would be a casino and jewel caper. But instead of having one primary heist as the central focus for all the characters, The Thieves present a whole lot more, used to introduce the different team's capabilities, and providing plenty of twists and turns as the story progressed. In short, it was a real treat and a wild ride to have the usual plot developments of the genre, with the betrayals and conflicting motivations all clashing together, and delivered with pin point perfection.

In the South Korean camp, there's Lee Jung-Jae as Popie, de-facto leader, who had assembled his team consisting of slinky cat burglar Yenicall (Jeon Ji-Hyun), veteran and linguist Chewingum (Kim Hae-Suk), and cable operator Zampano (Kim Soo-Hyun), to fleece a rich curator. They get contacted by Macao Park (Kim Yun-Seok), one time ex-partner of Popie, who had dangled an opportunity for a casino and jewel raid, and for the job, Popie brings along Pepsee (Kim Hye-Soo), recently out on parole, much to Macao Park's displeasure. The complex job also requires the team work with the Hong Kong camp, whom Macao contacted for assistance, which means an expanded motley crew comprising of leader Chen (Simon Yam), safe-cracker Julie (Angelica Lee), and regular goons in Andrew (Oh Dai-Su) and Johnny (Kwok Cheung Tsang). But there's enough to go around, since the plan is to rob a jewel in the premises of a casino in Macau, then sell it back to its original owner, the mysterious Wei Hong (Ki Guk-Seo).

The story by Choi Dong-Hun and Lee Gi-Cheol is kept extremely tight despite the myriad of characters involved, with director Choi expertly cutting through characters and their respective story arcs, with flashbacks used to introduce each and every one of them, coupled with surprises that throw up individual character motivations. This adds an extra spice to the proceedings, because like a poker game, we are the only ones who had a sneak peek into their respective roles, and what their intent is from the get go, with an expectation that things aren't always what they seem. We're lulled into complacency that we know it all, until another surprise gets thrown up to knock us off our balance. And doing so without cheating - which involves randomly or forcefully including unbelievable or illogical moments - was something of a feat.

Which is pretty amazing, because the pace of the narrative is never let down, interspersing adrenaline pumping moments with quieter scenes, and the usual heist film montage expectation where the Plan gets played out as the team embarks on their surveillance and preparation work, before the real thing. And that only covers less than half the film, with the second half trading characters for more stunt work and action, and given that it's a Korean film after all, had its focus shifted back to the Korean actors. The way that characters come, go, and the narrative bringing up sub plots, work wonderfully well, especially in setting up what were to follow from surprising moments.

But in a cinematic world where there is no honour amongst thieves, a romance also got thrown in to shake things up a little, especially when emotions play a key role in the building of various alliances and plans that each individual sets in motion in pursuing their self interests. It plays with what you know and have established, feeding you with new facts that would make you change your opinion about someone or some situation, and then decide who you would root for in this bunch of ten skilled professionals. They slag each other when there's opportunity to, backstab and form new partnerships, some even quite moving, especially when you know that Trust amongst the players is really a rare commodity.

No effort got spared in designing the action and heist sequences in the movie, making it a delight to watch since things are kept relatively fresh. Tom Cruise's building climbing escapade is well documented in M:I: Ghost Protocol, and while they aren't scaling the highest building in the world here, the film more than made up for it in the frequency, number of people involved, and at a much faster pace thanks to technology being unavailable other than a strong cable, a threaded indication, and lots of guts.

It's no surprise that this film has so far been South Korea's box office champion, given the slick execution of its action, and an all round good story involving boring cops and sexy/suave robbers. The handling of the languages here - Cantonese and Korean - in the way the characters interact, is a definite draw, as something that was handled close to perfection, because in the real world accents will come to play, and this one had attention to detail.