TRAFFICKERS

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TRAFFICKERS

Sep 01, 2020

Writer by Pierce Conran
View2624

2012 | 111 MIN | Crime, Thriller

DIRECTOR KIM Hong-sun

CAST IM Chang-jung, CHOI Daniel, OH Dal-su

RELEASE DATE August 29, 2012

CONTACT M-Line Distribution

Tel +82 2 796 2427

Fax +82 2 796 2429

Email sales@mline-distribution.com

Normally at this time of year, as the summer’s major local releases start to cycle down their runs, we tend to enter an informal thriller season. From late August through to late November, the bulk of the year’s dark and twisted mid-level commercial features march out, almost week after week and the themes and stories they encompass cover perennial favorites, including serial killers and gangsters. In August 2012, that year’s thriller cycle kicked off with the twisty serial killer story The Neighbors (2012). Following a week later was The Traffickers (2012), a much darker tale that explored a particularly grim subject matter that has long been associated with Korean cinema - illegal organ trafficking.

Young-kyu (IM Chang-jung) is a black-market dealer who has his eyes on Yu-ri, a young woman who works the ticket desk at the ferry terminal where he does most of his illegal trade. Yu-ri’s father is in need of surgery and in her desperation, she turns to an illegal organ trafficker. Young-gyu finds out about this and agrees to take on some nasty work in order to help her out, unbeknownst to her. Young-gyu and his team, including the drunken surgeon Kyung-jae (OH Dal-su), board a ferry for China, the same ferry where Young-gyu’s best friend died during a violent incident a few years ear-lier. Their job is to deliver organs to China for an illegal operation, but those organs belong to an un-suspecting passenger on the ship, a young handicapped woman. After kidnapping the woman and preparing her for surgery, her husband Sang-ho (CHOI Daniel) desperately begins to search the ship, and Yu-ri starts to help him.

Organ trafficking is a gruesome trade that has proven to be popular fodder for Korea’s unique style of thrillers. Among its notable early appearances on screen are in PARK Chan-wook’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and after a few years what was usually an aside became a larger part of the narrative, such as in films like The Man from Nowhere (2010), I Am Father (2011) and notably Heartbeat (2011). Yet, rarely had organ trafficking been the driving force of the film and Traffickers (2012) stands out for presenting these organ traffickers as the main characters.

Certainly not for everyone, Traffickers (2012) revels in particularly nasty business on screen and focuses on a protagonist that can’t really hope to gain the viewer’s sympathy, yet it’s also upfront about its nature as an exploitation film. It’s a work that’s not looking to offer hope, only thrills and surprises of a certain variety, and those it delivers in spades. Add to that a major twist ending and the film handily stands out among its peers. Viewers certainly noticed at the time as well, driving the film to become a modest hit with 1.65 million admissions.

Traffickers (2012) was the debut of director KIM Hong-sun and netted him the Best New Director prize from the Blue Dragon Awards that year. He’s gone on to become one of Korea’s most successful genre directors since, having released The Con Artists (2014), The Chase (2017) and last year’s METAMORPHOSIS.

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