2001|121 MIN | Comedy
DIRECTOR JANG Jin
CAST JUNG Jin-young, WON Bin, SHIN Hyun-joon, JUNG Jae-young, SHIN Ha-kyun
RELEASE DATE Oct 12, 2001
CONTACT Cinema Service
Tel +82 2 2001 8800
Fax +82 2 2001 8899
Email egle5@cinemaservice.com
JANG Jin’s black comedy
Guns And Talks (2001) revolves around four men who live and work together as professional killers. Charismatic Sang-yun (
SHIN Hyun-joon) is the leader of the quartet which also includes hot-tempered bombs expert Jung-woo (
SHIN Ha-kyun), sniper Jae-young (
JUNG Jae-young) and Sang-yun’s doe-eyed, computer hacker brother Ha-yun (
WON Bin) who is the youngest of the group and serves as the movie’s narrator. Together they make up a team of competent but quirky hitmen. As the movie begins, the four are attempting an elaborate assassination job, at the request of a mafia boss that requires several murders. Using guns, bombs and poison, the four pull off their assignment but not without going unnoticed. Soon, Prosecutor CHO (
JUNG Jin-young) is hot on their trail, and he is willing to break the rules to stop their successful murder operation.
With Guns And Talks, JANG loosely uses the conventions of assassin films as background, in the process providing a different take on the genre. Those expecting a violent, action packed film of murder, mayhem and anti-heroes might be let down. The movie relies heavily on conversations and interpersonal interactions between characters to keep the story moving along. JANG manages to keep things fresh over the film’s 2 hour running time by creating clever situations between the films leads and supporting characters and making use of his trademark, witty dialogue.
Where most assassin films tend to have protagonists with grim backgrounds or unsavory personalities, the hitmen of
Guns And Talks are likable and inhabit a world that is colorful and bright. Cinematographer
HONG Kyeong-pyo, who took the Grand Bell Award for his work on the 2016 hit
THE WAILING, manages to strike the right visual balance for JANG using bright, cheery daylight scenes and dynamic colors for the film’s night scenes. There are also several instances where JANG makes good, creative use of split screen. Additionally, in keeping with the film’s quirky but edgy tone, the soundtrack contains a healthy dose of upbeat rock and roll.