Chaser (2008)
AKA: Chugyeokja
Directed by: Na Hong-jin
Starring: Kim Yoon-seok (Jung-ho), Ha Jung-woo (Killer_, Seo Young-hee (Mi-jin), Koo Bon-woong (Jung-ho’s employee), Kim Yoo-jung (Mi-jin’s daughter)
Country: South Korea; Effed Up Asian Cinema
Language: Korean (Eng Subs); Effed Up Korean Movies
Runtime: 02:04:59
Genres: Gruesome, Serial Killer, Cops, Prostitution, Violence against Women
Plot – Spoilers:
Jung-ho, a Korean cop-turned-pimp, gets back to his detective ways when his girls start to go missing. He usually only cares about squeezing every drop of hookerism out of them whether or not they’re physically capable. But now it’s getting personal, as the guy he suspects of abducting his girls is really starting to piss him off.
Jung-ho tethers on the brink of turning into a tragic hero by also caring about things that don’t affect his business. So when he visits the home of the last missing girl and finds her daughter there all alone, the cop with him gives her his card asking her to call if she needs anything. But Jung-ho, rather than walk away, takes her along with him on his hunt.
The Chaser is a taut thriller that raises the hopes of its characters and viewers, only to mercilessly crush them. The maudlin angle with the little girl is merely an aside in an otherwise typically enjoyable Korean killer movie.
Dear fred fat nobody gives a shit about your monologues
The last korean film was about as gruesome as a fried egg sandwich.
One of my all time favourite S Korean movies. Up there with Old Boy, The Yellow Sea, Bittersweet Life, I Saw the Devil. Very grim and the most unlikely “hero” as the description states. 10 out of 5 stars!!!
This film is so Korean. The way it is shot and the way the story is told doesn’t conform to the way many Americans think genre clues should be presented and adhered to. At it’s heart, The Chaser is a crime drama about a serial killer and the guy who’s chasing him, but it evolves from many different angles. It’s a comedy of errors in the way the police and politicians are portrayed; a melodrama with its inclusion of the precocious little girl who belongs to the woman serving as the film’s primary “chase” and investigative point; a psychological thriller in the way the serial killer messes with the minds of the police; a mildly gory film in the way the bad guy uses a hammer and chisel; a bit of a tragedy in the way it ends. The only thing missing from this film is romance. Thank god they didn’t make one of the missing girls a love interest of the pimphe’s only after the money they owe him. That’s where the brilliance of the chase begins. There’s a fight scene early on where our protagonist, an ex-detective gone bad turned pimp, is beating the crap out of some guy he thinks has kidnapped and sold some of his girls. A long uphill foot chase precedes the brawl so both combatants are extremely winded when the fighting beginspunches don’t land and there’s a girly incompetence to the whole thing, which is to say, it’s realistic. After finally landing a… Read more »
is this the Bradley Walsh version?
Its ok,i thought it was maybe gonna maybe on the level of i saw the devil & imo it wasn’t,but thats on me for having those expectations
People who have a need to fill the gap before the next film upload. Amin The Rise and Fall, 1981 is doing the rounds. My prefered title being Carry-On Uganda. What it lacks in production value is outstripped by its frenetic pace and the comic timing of Joseph Olita.
Best scenes for me were his angry meeting with the bishop and his entertaining of the russians at the air-port. Not to forget his rally driving bunk-up. Thanyou very much.
This is a crime drama. It started out pretty good but it really lost steam. About an hour in to it, our hero the ex-cop now pimp with a heart of gold, picks up the hooker’s 10 year old daughter as a comic relief side kick and it just gets more corny from there. The inevitable fight scene with our hero and the killer was so cliched it was a joke. First the hero gets the upper hand, then he turns his back and the killer gets the upper hand, etc. And of course you know who wins. 33 people so far have voted for this and it has a 4.5 out of 5 rating. Have you ever seen “Dirty Harry” (1971)? That is a 5 star crime drama. This one isn’t even close. I would give this one 2 and a half stars but since you guys have over rated it I will give it one star. Come on guys.
I thought this one was fantastic. Nothing really negative to say. One of the few Koreans’ where I actually cared about the characters.
Another marvelous Korean movie.
Taut and visceral and yes typically Korean .. horrible and hilarious just the way we like them.
Never seen a bad Korean film yet. And can’t believe I’ve overlooked this one
A great two hours of proper cinema
Like this comment if you’re gay, dislike if you’re a faggot