Park Hoon-jung is a name best known for strong, stylised fast-paced thrillers. Starting from his writing credits, which include such greats as “I Saw the Devil” and “The Unjust”, to his directorial debut “The Showdown” and his last work “The Witch Part 2: The Other One”, he is known for his tense writing and direction on thrillers. Over time, these thrillers have also been known to evolve into including fabulously crafted action sequences. His latest work “The Childe” is another such work in a similar vein.
The Childe is available from Wellgo USA
Marco Han is a half-Korean half-Filipino kid, or a Kopino as such individuals are derogatorily called, who lives somewhere in Philippines with his very sick mother, trying to earn money for her medicines and operations by boxing and gambling. In a bid to see if he can get help for her operation, he tries to find his long-absent father, who turns out to be back in Korea. As fate would have it, his father too seems to be looking for him and, with his health failing, sends men to fetch Marco to Korea back with them. However, he knows something's not right as soon as he boards the first class flight to Korea, when he is approached by a suave, unknown Gentleman who calls himself Marco's Friend and tells him his trip might not be all that it seems to Marco and that his life is in danger. Why is Marco really headed to Korea? Who is this young Gentleman and the other people chasing Marco and why do they all want him?
Park Hoon-jung answers all of these questions, of course, but he is in no hurry to do so. The script, which like all his other directorials is written by him, takes its time in getting to the reveals and thus to the real reason behind all the chaos and the chases. These could get exasperating for some, but Park never lets the narrative rest, peppering it with a number of expertly executed action sequences, a lot of which include chases of all kind, as a number of interested parties try to catch Marco. The most impressive of these include the one within a narrow alleyed town on foot and the car chases shortly before and after that. While these go on, the plot does come to a jarring halt, but the kinetic energy of these set-pieces make up for that shortcoming.
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Once he reaches his destination, the chases give way to gun fights, culminating in a glorious final standoff that involves an entire army of sharply dressed goons against one in truly satisfying all-guns-blazing moment, which ranks amongst the best action scenes in a Park Hoon-jung work and, by extension, in Korean cinema. Hwang Jin-mo's action choreography, which throughout the feature is relentless, brutal, often bloody and always brilliant, combines with the awe-inspiring cinematography by Shin Tae-ho, Kim Hong-mok and Lee Yeo in the most satisfying manner, resulting in a very memorable sequence. The scenes in Korea, as do the ones with the unnamed Friend, borrow heavily from the usual style and flair shown in cinema from the country, with the gangsters being all immaculately dressed, smooth talking and acting men that can change violently at the flick of a switch.
All the action doesn't mean that Park forgets to include his trademark humor throughout the narrative. In fact, it is arguably used at its ironic best here of all his other productions. It does, however, mean that the world of “The Childe” is primarily a masculine one, with the inclusion of its two female characters coming across as mere tokenism. The bigger role of the two, that of a handler played by Go Ara, is barely in a handful scenes and has little else to do but wear designer sunglasses and outfit and, in one scene, drive a car in a slightly badass manner. The other, the middle daughter of Marco's father, barely registers.
The men, on the other hand, have ample scope to shine. Marco may be the central character around who the story revolves, but the leading man here no doubt is Kim Seon-ho with his magnetic turn as The Friend. The actor, making his feature film debut in the first of two projects with Park Hoon-jung and his comeback after a personal scandal, is easily the highlight here, with his sociopathic manners adequately hiding his real motives until the opportune moment. Fans will undoubtedly be very pleased with his performance and Kim does enough to make new fans with his demeanor and a bewitching smile that never gives away his true intentions.
In another debut, Kang Tae-ju is equally impressive, making Marco's earnest efforts to find a connection with his father very sympathetic to the audience and his confusion as to what's happening with him coming across well. His use of English with a Southeast Asian accent, as required for the character, is pretty convincing. Elsewhere, Kim Kang-woo has a lot of fun as Director Han, the eldest sibling to Marco, even if his character is written in a rather caricature-like manner.
Ultimately, “The Childe” may not be dense thematically or narratively, but it still ranks well within Park Hoon-jung's filmography and is a superior action feature within the modern South Korean cinema landscape.
