THE CHASER
Korea, 2008, 123 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Na Hong- Jin.
First it was Hong Kong, then Korea which turned out (churned out) efficient, exciting and well-crafted crime and police thrillers. Here is another Korean one considered sufficiently good to merit a special out of competition screening in Cannes.
This one has some interesting differences. A vicious serial killer has been killing women around Seoul. The Chaser is not a mystery as we learn very quickly the identity of the killer and we see him at work in some brutal scenes. The Chaser himself, literally running after the killer, fighting him and pursuing him, is not a policeman. He was a detective but was involved in a racket, a pimp supplying women to callers. Some of his girls have disappeared. As a last resort, he sends out a woman with a seven year old daughter, realising that she has been hired by a suspect client. He also informs his friends in the police.
In the meantime, the police are guarding the mayor of Seoul who is visiting a night market when a protestor throws excrement at him. The powers that be are more concerned with the mayoral incident and thwart the murder investigation. And many of the police are presented as incompetent. The Chaser continues to pursue his quarry to save the life of the prostitute and to care for her daughter.
The film doesn’t pull its punches in presenting the ugliness and fatality of the crimes though it gives few clues as to the ultimate motivation of the killer and the determination of the chaser.
Perhaps sometimes too graphic for a broad audience, but it is one of the well-crafted Korean police dramas.
1.The tradition of the police thriller from Asia? Crime investigations? Proliferation of this genre? A good example?
2.The settings in Seoul, central city, the suburbs, the police stations, the markets, the mansions, the shops? Authentic and realistic atmosphere? The musical score?
3.The title, the focus on Jung- Ho? His work with the girls, his assistant and his being slow-witted? The cards given out to people, the callgirl system? His concern about the missing girls, taking the money? Presuming that they had been sold? His late client? His asking Kim Mi- Jin to go? Thinking that this man was the seller? Trying to make mobile phone contact, failing? His concern? His checking with the police? His confrontation with the man after the car crash, chasing him, bashing him? His being taken in? Interrogated? Jung- Ho and his continued search, his concern for the prostitute’s daughter? Going to get her? Her being taken from the car? Finding her, going to hospital? The release of the suspect? His anger? The chase, trying to find him, his assistant with the keys of the gates? Finding one dwelling, the friend, the bashing, finding the paintings on the wall? The continued search, going to the church, seeing the Christian emblems and the similarities with the paintings? Going to the house, getting in? The confrontation with the killer, their fight, his almost killing him? The arrival of the police – stopping him in time? His return to the hospital, to the little girl? The experience of the chase, the background of his being a detective, with the callgirls, his being dismissed, setting up in business, being despised by the police? An interesting portrait?
4.The prostitute, unwell, with her little girl, going, the car? Going to the house, the message to send the address by mobile phone? The shower, the locks? The attack by the man, his brutality? Her being left for dead? Her using her wits, untying? Getting out? In the shop – and the irony of the woman looking after her, her death?
5.The killer, no explanation, picking up the women, taking them to the house, his casual attitude, locking them in, the brutality with the chisel and hammer? His getting out, the car crash, not wanting any insurance? The chase? His being bashed? The police taking him, his confessing? The discussions with the psychiatrist about impotence? His admitting more murders? The Chaser and his bashing him to get the address? His being let free? Going back, going to the shop for cigarettes, the shopkeeper telling him about the woman, killing the shopkeeper, killing the prostitute? The previous incident with the missionaries, his killing them, taking their car? The final pursuit, the final fight, his being taken to prison?
6.The prostitutes, their life, on the streets, the prostitute going with the man? The sympathy of the audience for the brutality they suffered? The daughter, her being left alone, the Chaser caring for her?
7.The police, the Chaser’s friend, the detail with the mayor, the excrement thrown at him, the powers-that-be wanting priority for the mayor? The police getting the evidence without warrant? Digging up the garden for bodies? Having to let the suspect go? The incompetent police and their sleeping on the job? The friend, the final confrontation? The woman following the killer and her grief at not stopping the deaths?
8.The civil background, the mayor, goodwill, the protesters, political difficulties, the role of the police?
9.The popularity of this kind of police thriller from Asia?
