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2002｜135 MIN | Crime, Action

DIRECTOR KANG Woo-suk

CAST SUL Kyung-gu, LEE Sung-jae, KANG Sin-Il

RELEASE DATE January 24, 2002

CONTACT Cinema Service 

Tel: +82 2 2001 8800

Fax: +82 2 2001 8899

Email: egle5@cinemaservice.com

KANG Chul-joong (SUL Kyung-gu) is a detective who was employed specially due to his Asian Games’ silver medal in boxing, but he has no concern for his police work. There is only a pen on his desk instead of case files. Furthermore, he takes bribes from street vendors and steals drugs from criminals to sell. However, his life changes when he meets a man on a rainy night. 

Ambitious fund manager CHO Gyu-hwan (LEE Sung-jae) is a capitalist to the core. He disregards for others and does wrong things heartlessly. When his father intends to retrieve the investment from him to help an orphanage faced with demolition, he stabs his parents with a knife dozens of times. When he returns from the murder scene, he bumps against KANG and leaves a small clue. 

Public Enemy (2002) is one of the best cop movies in Korea. Director KANG Woo-suk created a unique police character that walks the boundaries between corruption and justice in Two Cops (1993) and made a step forward in Public Enemy. Incompetent and corrupt policeman KANG Chul-joong becomes another man when he comes across the ‘public enemy’ CHO Gyu-hwan, but it is not awakening to protect social orders and justice. KANG has no interest in systems, and even derides them. The only thing that he trusts is his fists. He used to allow his trivial misdeeds, but he runs toward the evil trampling on ordinary people. 

In addition, Public Enemy is a great comedy like Two Cops. Because KANG Chul-joong is so simple that acts and reacts unpredictably. Director KANG created a character whose name represents a genre itself like Dirty Harry. Although its sequels were not good as the original, his mark in Public Enemy cannot be removed in this genre.