'Inside Men' depicts world controlled by corrupt power elite
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Posters of “Inside Men” drawn by the film version’s original comic strip artist Yoon Tae-ho / Courtesy of Showbox
By Baek Byung-yeul
When the news hit last year that superstar cartoonist Yoon Tae-ho’s incomplete comic strip “Inside Men” would be brought to the big screen, movie fans expressed doubts over the completeness of the film version.
In response to the mounting worries, director Woo Min-ho completed the unfinished political thriller on the screen with three protagonists with strong personalities.
Woo’s film version is slightly different from the original comics version that observes how society becomes ultimately corrupted by power through characters in the world of media, chaebol or family owned conglomerates, politics and political hoodlums.
Instead of featuring a freelancer photo journalist with a strong sense of social justice in the comics, Woo created a policeman-turned-prosecutor who sends shockwaves through “the establishment” that controls everything in the country to make the screen version the tale of man’s desire to overcome challenges to realize social justice.
Lee Byung-hun, right, and Cho Seung-woo in a scene from “Inside Men” / Courtesy of Showbox
Actor Cho Seung-woo is featured as ambitious prosecutor Woo Jang-hoon. In investigating the business and political moguls, the prosecutor later temporarily joins hands with political henchman Ahn Sang-goo (played by Lee Byung-hun), who has been forsaken by the power elite.
The axis of evil in the film includes Lee Kang-hee (played by Baek Yoon-sik), a chief editorial writer at an influential conservative newspaper. With the power of the pen, Lee succeeds to elevate prosecutor-turned-lawmaker Jang Pil-woo (Lee Geung-young) to the position of a strong presidential candidate. But his dream to put the country under his control faces fierce opposition from the prosecutor.
While the first half of the movie concentrates on displaying how society has been corrupted and why the political henchman decides to take revenge on the power elite, the most absorbing part of the film begins in the later half as actors Cho Seung-woo and Lee Byung-hun coordinate the unique ensemble of the two characters in hostile and parallel relations.
As “Inside Men” is rated for adults only for its explicit scenes, it remains to be seen whether this cartoon-turned movie can appeal to adult audiences.
In Korean box office history, the top-grossing adults-only film was director Kwak Kyung-taek’s 2001 gangster film “Friend,” which garnered some 8.1 million viewers.
“Inside Men” will screen nationwide on Nov. 19.