The Chaser (2008 film)

The Chaser
Theatrical release poster
Hangul	추격자
Hanja	追擊者
Revised Romanization	Chugyeokja
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'ugyŏkcha
Directed by	Na Hong-jin
Written by	Na Hong-jin Shinho Lee Hong Won-chan
Produced by	Kim Su-jin Yun In-beom
Starring	Kim Yoon-seok Ha Jung-woo
Cinematography	Lee Sung-jae
Edited by	Kim Sun-min
Music by	Kim Jun-seok Choi Yong-rak
Production companies	Big House Finecut
Distributed by	Showbox
Release date	14 February 2008 (2008-02-14)
Running time	124 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Budget	$2.6 million
Box office	US$35.8 million[1]

The Chaser (Korean: 추격자) is a 2008 South Korean action thriller film^[2][3] starring Kim Yoon-seok and Ha Jung-woo. It was directed by Na Hong-jin in his directorial debut.^[4] Inspired by real-life Korean serial killer Yoo Young-chul, certain scenes were shot on location around Mangwon-dong in the Mapo District, Seoul.

Plot

Joong-ho is a dishonest ex-detective turned pimp who is in financial trouble because two of his prostitutes have gone missing. One night, he commands Mi-jin to service a customer, despite her protests over her sickness. Joong-ho then realizes this customer was the last to see his missing girls. Believing that this customer is trafficking his women, Joong-ho nevertheless sends Mi-jin in so that she can forward the customer's address to him. Joong-ho contacts his old police task force for help, but they cannot assist because the mayor of Seoul, whom they were guarding, has been attacked with feces; this results in the police suffering a media firestorm.

The customer, Yeong-min, takes Mi-jin back to the house but Mi-jin fails to contact Joong-ho due to the bathroom having no cell service. Yeong-min binds Mi-jin, but her struggles prevent her murder with a chisel, so Yeong-min hits her with a hammer, knocking her out. Just then, an elderly couple from the local church arrives, inquiring about the real house owner, Mr. Park; they recognize his dog. Yeong-min then invites the elderly couple in and murders them.

Joong-ho, only aware of the customer's district, searches. Yeong-min tries to ditch the couple's car, but collides with Joong-ho's car. Joong-ho's suspicions are aroused as Yeong-min has blood on his shirt and refuses to give his phone number. Joong-ho calls the customer's number and Yeong-min's phone rings. Yeong-min flees but is caught and beaten by Joong-ho. Both men are arrested by a local cop. At the station, Yeong-min casually admits that he committed nine murders. Competing police divisions argue over who will investigate the high-profile unsolved murders in the area.

Despite the confession, the police have no physical evidence so they cannot detain Yeong-min for long. Yeong-min reveals Mi-jin is alive, but the police doubt it. Joong-ho goes to Mi-jin's apartment to collect DNA samples, and from there he takes Mi-jin's daughter Eun-ji with him while he follows up a lead in Yeong-min's hometown. Joong-ho learns that Yeong-min was jailed for three years for lobotomizing his nephew. Another prostitute informs Joong-ho that Yeong-min is impotent. When Yeong-min is questioned about his impotency being part of his motive, he attacks the interrogator. Joong-ho's assistant finds a room where Yeong-min had once lived; Joong-ho discovers religious drawings on the room's walls. Eun-ji wanders off while following a woman who looks like her mother, then meets with an accident and is brought to a hospital by Joong-ho.

Yeong-min provides a false lead after being again beaten by Joong-ho. The prosecutor discovers Yeong-min's injuries and demands Yeong-min's release, refusing to wait for DNA test results. Saying that Yeong-min's arrest will be seen as the police's attempt to save face, the prosecutor demands Joong-ho's arrest for injuring Yeong-min. Joong-ho is handcuffed and attacks his former teammates to escape; one of them frees him.

Meanwhile, Mi-jin freed herself and escaped from the house. Badly injured, she finds help at a nearby corner shop, and hides in the back. The police are informed, but the nearest officers are fast asleep. Yeong-min stops at the same shop to buy cigarettes. Not knowing Yeong-min is the attacker himself, the shopkeeper tells him about Mi-jin's story, asking him to stay to protect them from the attacker while they await the police. Yeong-min uses the shopkeeper's hammer to murder both her and Mi-jin. Alerted by police sirens, Joong-ho arrives finding the police have cordoned off the bloody shop. Yeong-min escapes off-camera back to Mr. Park's house, where he stores Mi-jin's severed head and hands in a fish tank. Yeong-min buries the elderly couple and kills Mr. Park's dog.

The humiliated police throw everything into the search for Yeong-min, while the story is leaked to the public. A distraught Joong-ho follows a lead to the local church, and then notices that a church statue matches the drawings he had seen in Yeong-min's old room. As Mr. Park was the sculptor and Yeong-min his "assistant", the deacon points Joong-ho to Mr. Park's house.

Joong-ho enters the residence, interrupting Yeong-min's departure. They fight, with Joong-ho ultimately getting the upper hand, but the police arrive and restrain Joong-ho from killing Yeong-min. Yeong-Min is taken away while the police excavate the yard, finding several bodies.

The film ends with Joong-ho sitting silently by Eun-ji in her hospital room, holding her hand.

Cast

• Kim Yoon-seok as Eom Joong-ho, pimp and former police officer
• Ha Jung-woo as Ji Yeong-min, serial killer
• Seo Young-hee as Kim Mi-jin, prostitute
• Koo Bon-woong as Oh-jot, Eom Joong-ho's assistant
• Kim Yoo-jung as Eun-ji, Mi-jin's daughter
• Jung In-gi as Detective Lee
• Park Hyo-joo as Detective Oh
• Choi Jung-woo as Chief of Police
• Min Kyeong-jin as Team chief
• Oh Yeon-ah as Sung-hee
• Kim Sun-young as Ji-yeong

Release

Box office

The Chaser was released in South Korea on February 14, 2008.^[5] On its opening weekend it grossed US$3,914,847 and was ranked second at the box office, behind American film Jumper.^[6] It then topped the box office for three consecutive weekends,^[7][8][9] and as of June 1, 2008, had grossed a total of US$35,760,133.^[1] The Chaser received a total of 5,120,630 admissions nationwide, which made it the third most popular film in South Korea in 2008, after The Good, the Bad, the Weird and Scandal Makers.^[5]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Chaser holds an approval rating of 80%, based on 30 reviews, and an average rating of 6.7/10. Its consensus reads, "A frantic and taut Korean serial killer thriller. One classy, if bloody and messy, gut wrencher of a movie."^[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".^[11]

Awards and nominations

Remakes and similar productions

In March 2008, the remake rights to The Chaser were bought by Warner Bros. for US$1 million. William Monahan was in early discussions to write the script, with Leonardo DiCaprio named as a potential star; no deals have been set. Monahan and DiCaprio were both involved in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, a successful remake of the classic Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs .^[14] Murder 2 , a 2011 Indian Bollywood psychological thriller film, is an unofficial remake of The Chaser.^[15]

References

External links

• The Chaser at IMDb
• The Chaser at the Korean Movie Database
• The Chaser at HanCinema
• The Chaser at AllMovie
• The Chaser at Rotten Tomatoes