Hitchcock wannabe

The Chaser

Oh my goodness, this movie pissed me off. It was gruesome for no reason, built up a lot of suspense and cheesy mother-daughter-scenes and for the most part, the movie seemed to want to do nothing but frustrate the audience, in this case me. I didn’t like how the story unfolded, I can’t see Korean men being brutally impolite at each other and I feel like everything that happened was in vain after all.

On the other hand, it was quite a great ride. I loved the depiction of the incompetent police (ultimately the reason why the woman had to die after all!) and the main character grew on me like few do. He’s a lot like Great Teacher Onizuka who is being misunderstood as a ‘worthless pimp’ but ultimately is the only person who truly ended up caring about somebody after all – even without a hint of a romantic interest. Besides the victim, he was the only likable person in the whole story and this mix of rough exterior and behavior with his earnest emotional character.

There is another redeeming aspect about the film – its subtle, somewhat black and always very Korean humour. I had to chuckle every single time they mentioned the shit-thrower, and besides the fact that he delivered the much needed comedic relief for the film, he actually plays an important role of the police’s reaction to the whole ordeal. In a strange way, the well-placed insertion of the police*s incapability and corruption was perhaps my favorite element in the film.

So, the bottom line is I thought “The Chaser” was alright. The action scenes were great, the actors were right up my alley and some elements of the story indicate a great potential for… something greater? I am surprised at how much acclaim the story garnered with the critics, because I still believe they could have done better. It was a directional debut after all.