The Chaser (2008)

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Director: Na Hong-Jin

Writers: Won-Chan Hong, Na Hong-Jin, Shinho Lee

Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Yeong-hie Seo, Kim Yoo-jeong, In-gi Jeong, Jung-woo Choi, Min Kyung-jin, Hyo-ju Park

 


A pimp (Kim Yoon-seok) sets out to fuck up the asshole (Ha Jung-woo) who’s stealing his bitches and ends up as a desperate man trying to rescue an injured woman (Seo Young-hee) from a serial killer and recognizing his complicity in her situation.

 


This film does two things remarkably well.

 


First, it makes the protagonist’s character arc believable and moving through action alone.

 


Secondly, there are several plot twists that would seem to deflate the tension in the plot by removing the element of menace (I don’t want to give any spoilers, but an example is the killer’s confession to murder while in police custody fairly early in the film), but developments inevitably bend toward the film’s culminating tragedy.

 


In an extraordinary debut, first-time writer/director Na Hong-jin presents fully realized characters in a gritty, messy modern-day Seoul. 



Like Quentin Tarantino in “Pulp Fiction,” he employs coincidence in a way that feels inevitable rather than contrived.

 


An extraordinary film.












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