Kang Dong-Won Movies

A North Korean spy and a National Intelligence Service agent forge an unlikely yet mutually-beneficial alliance six years after in this seriocomic action thriller from Rough Cut director Jang Hun. Six years ago, Agent Lee Han-gyoo (Song Kang-ho) was the hardest working commie hunter in Seoul. But that was before he engaged Northern mole Song Ji-won (Kang Dong-Won) in a gunfight on the streets of the South Korean capitol. These days Song makes his living in construction, doing his best to survive in enemy territory while disgraced Lee is handed the jobs that none of the other agents want. When Lee catches a glimpse of Song on the street, he slyly offers him a job. Though Lee and Song both recognize one another from the moment they lock eyes, both men play their hands close to their chests, never letting on that they are aware of the other's true identity as they debate the politics of their divided nation, and clash over the morality of jailing immigrants. Over the course of the next few weeks, the two men get to know one another while engaging in a cunning game of cat-and-mouse. Before long, it becomes apparent to each that personal choice has emerged as the preferred ideology, and the political rivalries of the previous century are hopelessly antiquated in the modern world, where we're all connected by one means or another. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director/screenwriter Park Jin-pyo crafts this emotionally pointed docudrama based on the 1991 kidnapping of a young South Korean boy whose abductor sadistically taunted the child's parents over the course of a grueling, month-long period. Television news anchorman Han Kyung-bae and his devoutly religious, stay-at-home wife Oh Ji-sun both love their timid, nine year old son Hwang-sun as much as any devoted mother and father would. Though the rigorous exercise regiment and strict diet they subject the reticent child to may seem harsh to the casual observer, all they want is for him to shed some extra weight so he'll live a long and happy life. The doting parents find their lives turned upside down in an instant however when one day, Hwang-sun vanishes without a trace. Their worst fears are confirmed when, shortly thereafter, Hwang-sun's abductor calls to demand a sizeable ransom. Though Han Kyung-bae and his wife are willing to pay any amount of money to ensure their child's safe return, the exchange proves unexpectedly complicated as a parent's worst nightmare slowly snowballs into tragedy. Over the course of the next forty-four days, the frighteningly calm and confident kidnapper taunts the grieving parents with a series of relentlessly cruel telephone calls, gradually drawing Han Kyung-bae and Oh Ji-sun's failures, mistakes, and regrets out into the open while forcing them to endure a slow-burning hell of misery and despair. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi