2008 South Korean film
The Chaser
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4d/The_Chaser_film_poster.jpg/220px-The_Chaser_film_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster
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Hangul
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Hanja
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Revised Romanization
| Chugyeokja
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McCune?Reischauer
| Ch'ugy?kcha
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Directed by
| Na Hong-jin
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Written by
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Produced by
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Starring
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Cinematography
| Lee Sung-jae
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Edited by
| Kim Sun-min
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Music by
|
- Kim Jun-seok
- Choi Yong-rak
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Production
companies
| Big House
Finecut
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Distributed by
| Showbox
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Release date
|
- 14 February 2008
(
2008-02-14
)
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Running time
| 124 minutes
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Country
| South Korea
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Language
| Korean
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Budget
| $2.6 million
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Box office
| US$35.8 million
[1]
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The Chaser
(
Korean
:
追擊者
) 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
[
edit
]
Joong-ho is a dishonest
pimp
and former police detective 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 frees herself and escapes 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
[
edit
]
Release
[
edit
]
Box office
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Remakes and similar productions
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"South Korea Box: Office May 30 ? June 1, 2008"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
"Realism And The Art Of Violence In The Chaser (2008) | Genre: Action, Thriller"
. That Moment In. 2008.
- ^
"追擊者"
.
Naver
.
- ^
Lee, Hyo-won (31 January 2008).
"
Chaser
Offers Heart-Thumping Thrills"
.
The Korea Times
. Retrieved
10 August
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"The Best Selling Films of 2008"
.
Koreanfilm.org
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
"South Korea Box Office: February 15?17, 2008"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
"South Korea Box Office: February 22?24, 2008"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
"South Korea Box Office: February 29 ? March 2, 2008"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
"South Korea Box Office: March 7?9, 2008"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
"The Chaser (Chugyeogja) (2008) - Rotten Tomatoes"
.
Rotten Tomatoes.com
. Flixster
. Retrieved
December 24,
2018
.
- ^
"The Chaser reviews"
.
Metacritic
.
CBS Interactive
. Retrieved
December 24,
2018
.
- ^
Yi, Chang-ho (24 October 2008).
"The Chaser extends awards lead"
.
Korean Film Biz Zone
. Retrieved
5 June
2014
.
- ^
"The Chaser - Awards"
.
Cinemasie
. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
- ^
Paquet, Darcy; Fleming, Michael (7 March 2008).
"
Chaser
caught by Warner for remake"
Archived
2008-05-08 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Variety
. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
- ^
"The original Murder 2 director in town!"
.
Hindustan Times
. 2011-10-20
. Retrieved
2021-04-30
.
External links
[
edit
]
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1960s
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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2010s
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2020s
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1960s
|
- Kim Jin-kyu
(
Deaf Sam-yong
) (1965)
- - (1966)
*
- Late Autumn
(1967)
- Choi Nam-hyun (
Legend of Ssarigol
) (1968)
- - (1969)
*
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1970s
|
- - (1970)
*
- - (1971)
*
- - (1972)
*
- Gate of Women
(1973)
- - (1974)
*
- - (1975)
*
- - (1976)
*
- Concentration Of Attention
(1977)
- A Splendid Outing
(1978)
- The Last Words from a Comrade in Arms
(1979)
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1980s
|
- Man-suk, Run!
(1980)
- A Fine, Windy Day
(1981)
- - (1982)
**
- Village of Haze
(1983)
- Whale Hunting
(1984)
- Deep Blue Night
(1985)
- Gilsoddeum
(1986)
- Moonlight Hunter
(1987)
- Adada
(1988)
- Seoul Rainbow
(1989)
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1990s
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2000s
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2010s
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2020s
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*
awarded to theatrical play;
**
no winner
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