2015｜140 MIN | Action, Drama
DIRECTOR CHOI Dong-hoon
CAST Gianna JUN, HA Jung-woo, LEE Jung-jae, OH Dal-su, CHO Jin-woong
RELEASE DATE July 22, 2015
CONTACT Showbox Inc.
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Looking to bring his streak of box office hits to a perfect five, CHOI Dong-hoon unleashes his biggest project to date this summer, the period action drama Assassination, which was shot in Shanghai and Korea, and boasts a tidy KRW 18 billion (USD 15.72 million) budget. Bringing back two of his big stars from 2012’s The Thieves (Gianna JUN and LEE Jung-jae) and adding HA Jung-woo to the mix, CHOI’s latest is a grand spectacle full of historical intrigue, period detail, sharp comedy and huge set pieces.

 

In 1933, Seok-jin (LEE), an agent from the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which operates in exile in Shanghai, breaks out the sniper Ok-yoon (JUN), along with Big Gun (CHO Jin-woong) and explosives expert Deok-sam (CHOI Duk-mun), out of jail, with the goal of forming a team to knock out the Japanese leadership in their colonised home, including a high-ranking Korean traitor whom Seok-jin failed to kill years earlier. The secret squad begins to plan their mission but soon encounter obstacles in the form of legendary hired gun Hawaii Pistol (HA) and his cigar-chomping, tommy gun-wielding sidekick Young-gam (OH Dal-su), who have accepted a contract to take them out first.

 

A few years ago, the Joseon Era film came back in fashion in a big way with the release of Masquerade (2012), reaching a peak with last summer’s Roaring Currents. And while that trend is still on the go (with Memories of the Sword and The Throne lined up over the next two months), many filmmakers have begun to point their cameras back to a different period of Korean history, the Colonial Era of the early 20th century. This summer has already given us LEE Hae-young’s horror-thriller The Silenced and CHOI’s super-sized offering will be followed next year by PARK Chan-wook’s Fingersmith and KIM Jee-woon’s Secret Agent.

 

Assassination roots itself in a weighty historical setting but rather than offer a realistic account of resistance fighters, its tale is a revisionist one that positions its Korean gunslingers as mythical protagonists able to single-handedly wipe out entire Japanese squadrons. The heavily stylised backdrops (from Old Boy production designer RYU Seong-hee) and lavish photography (by KIM Wu-hyeong), as well as the script’s knowing winks and frequent laughs, demonstrate that CHOI is aiming to entertain, rather than deliver a history class.

 

Bringing their star auras to the project, JUN, LEE and HA blend drama and action and add a dash of cool to their characters, while supporting stars OH and CHO are on hand to deliver most of the film’s gut-busters. Meanwhile, CHOI guides the huge project with a steady hand, juggling many components, including some of the most bombastic action set pieces yet seen in Korean cinema.