Historical action flick, a promising hit
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/ Graphic by Cho Sang-won
By Yun Suh-young
Director Choi Dong-hoon, whose filmography includes the action blockbuster "The Thieves" (2012), which sold nearly 13 million tickets, has returned after a three-year absence with "Assassination." Expected to be another box office success, the film is a satisfying spectacle with superb cinematography, a solid screenplay and flawless acting by an all-star cast.
Set in the 1930s during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea (1910-1945), the movie spotlights the heroic attempts of Korean independence fighters who fought fearlessly for freedom and justice in defiance of the colonial rulers.
The Korean provincial government in Shanghai, established by independence activist Kim Koo, plans to assassinate two key figures ― the commander of Japanese troops in Korea and a pro-Japanese business tycoon Kang In-guk (Lee Gyoung-young). The police chief of the provisional government Yeom Seok-jin (Lee Jung-jae) assembles an assassination unit consisting of a female sniper from the independence army in Manchuria An Ok-yun (Jun Ji-hyun), a gun expert (Cho Jin-woong) and a bombmaker (Choi Duk-mun) to execute the plan.
Meanwhile, the treacherous Yeom pays a professional assassin nicknamed “Hawaii Pistol” (Ha Jung-woo) to get rid of the assassination team that he himself had formed.
"Assassination" has elements of the director’s old films such as "The Thieves," an action comedy, and "Tazza: The High Rollers" (2006), a crime-thriller. In fact, the casting is similar ― Lee Jung-jae and Jun Ji-hyun from "The Thieves" play the main roles and Cho Seung-woo and Kim Hae-sook from "Tazza" appear in the supporting cast. A new addition is Ha Jung-woo who plays a major role, perhaps the most memorable out of all the characters he has played so far.
The movie differs to Choi’s preceding works as it is a historical action drama
the director first attempt at this genre. Fortunately, the movie turns out to be far more engaging than what many expected.
Also different from his previous works is that the lead character is a woman. The story revolves around the female sniper and independence fighter An Ok-yun (Jun Ji-hyun) who becomes the leader of the assassination unit. The director said he wanted to spotlight the achievements of real-life figures whose names are unknown.
In order to maximize the reality of the historical backdrop, the film invested 18 billion won ($16 million) in building the sets, producing costumes and collecting antique props. The amount of effort put into the details is impressive and makes the movie more fascinating to watch.
The filming took five months in both Shanghai and Seoul as the plot takes place in both locations. A special set of 13,500 square meters was created in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to recreate the Seosomun Street in Gyeongseong (what Seoul was called at the time). The rest of the filming took place at the Shanghai set in Chedun, which is 27 times the size of the Hapcheon set in South Gyeongsang Province, Korea, and is the background of Chinese hit film "Lust, Caution" (2007).