![\"\"](\"https:\/\/londonkoreanlinks.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/photo48512.jpg\")
Although I arrived at this screening late, the fast pace of sequential action of The Chaser<\/a><\/em> made it easy for me to get up to speed. \u00a0<\/p>\nJoong-ho is an ex-cop turned pimp who discovers before local South Korean law enforcement that there is a connection between a customer and missing prostitutes from his stable when he sends out one of his favorite girls, Minji. \u00a0Joong-ho’s investigative instinct carries him into the vicinity of the culprit, Yeong-min when he serendipitously crashes into Yeong-min’s car. \u00a0Yeong-min refuses to take issue over car damage. \u00a0There is blood on his shirt unrelated to the car accident. \u00a0This prompts Joong-ho to dial the cell phone number of the customer he sent Minji to patronize. \u00a0When Yeong-min’s cellphone rings, he quickly exits the car and the first chase in what will become a motif is on.<\/p>\n
Joong-ho overcomes Yeong-min and pulverizes him into a confession that he killed the prostitutes. Posing as a cop with Yeong-min handcuffed, Joong-ho leads the culprit back to the car, intent on locating the alleged burial sites in order to determine if Yeong-min’s confession had any validity. \u00a0However, the police arrive and take them both into custody. \u00a0At the station, Yeong-min methodically stretches out the time by confessing to the murders of the prostitutes, yet he does not provide authorities with any evidence to prove them. \u00a0Yeong-min hints that the last victim may still be alive. \u00a0Still, according to South Korean law, without evidence of the crimes, Yeong-min must be released within twelve hours.<\/p>\n
Na Hong-jin follows the western formula of low-key lighting in film noir to accentuate the narrative plot that seeks to corner an admitted serial killer, juxtaposed with Joong-ho’s struggle to redeem the morality he abandoned as a cop. \u00a0To his credit, Na Hong-jin’s screenwriting collaboration with Hong Wan-chan and Shinho Lee gives us an arresting glimpse into inadequacies that exist in the criminal justice system of South Korea as a developing Third World country; the script is seething with the implied political corruption that adversely affects the social mores, and in particular, widespread prostitution as a survival mechanism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reviewed by Darryl Walden. \u00a0Viewed at the ArcLight Theater, AFI Film Festival. Although I arrived at this screening late, the fast pace of sequential action of The Chaser made it easy for me to get up to speed. \u00a0 Joong-ho is an ex-cop turned pimp who discovers before local South Korean law enforcement that there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afi-filmfest-2008","category-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}