'Inside Men' director's cut digs deeper into protagonists
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Lee Byung-hun in a scene from “Inside Men” / Courtesy of Showbox
By Baek Byung-yeul
For fans of the political thriller “Inside Men,” there is good news: a 50-minute-longer director’s cut will hit the screens at the end of this year.
Based on star cartoonist Yoon Tae-ho’s cartoon work of the same title, the original 180-minute version, which began screening last month, has recorded some 6.9 million admissions as of Sunday. It became the second-biggest box-office smash of all time among adults, following the 2001 film “Friend” that sold 8.18 million tickets.
The political thriller revolves around three protagonists ― Lee Kang-hee (actor Baek Yoon-sik), a chief editorial writer at an influential newspaper who controls public opinion by pulling strings with politicians; Ahn Sang-goo (Lee Byung-hun), a political henchman who takes revenge against politics, business and media after being forsaken by them; and Woo Jang-hoon (Cho Seung-woo), an ambitious prosecutor who temporarily joins hands with Ahn.
After its debut, the film has been literally in hot water, receiving good reviews from audiences seeking catharsis in times of political corruption. Also, the popularity of the film made Lee’s line, “Let’s have a Maldives at mojito,” into one of the top catch phrases of the year.
Titled “Inside Men: The Original,” the director’s cut will dig deeper into the relationships between a journalist, a political henchman, a prosecutor and a strong presidential candidate.
When revealing the story behind the director’s cut, director Woo Min-ho said he wanted to go into detail on the background of the characters.
“The first version was about 220 minutes long and I removed the long takes. And thanks to the tremendous response to the film, we are now presenting the director’s cut,” Woo said during a press premiere at a theater in Wangsimni, Seoul, Dec. 23.
“In the director’s cut, I put more focus on the relationships between the characters. Some may think it unnecessary, but I wanted to deliver a message that there will be no end to corruption and injustice.”
As the director said, the longer version depicts how the chief editorial writer and the political henchman meet for the first time and have built a relationship over the past 20 years. Also, the time when the prosecutor was a police investigator is included.
Actor Lee also seemed to be satisfied with the director’s cut. “it’s all good but one obvious defect is that you cannot escape to the restroom without missing cuts,” he said.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the audiences. Without them, the director’s cut wouldn’t be screened.”
“Inside Men: The Original” will screen nationwide on Thursday.