Injeong sajeong bol geot eobtda

I saw a trailer on an obscure DVD (don't remember which though) half a year ago. The trailer made use of the Bee Gee's song that's in two of the scenes in the movie. Then I read most of this IMDb comments.

A month ago I found the DVD (I'm always searching secondhand stores) and yesterday I put in in my DVD-player. Watched the trailer on the DVD again. It was a different one. Not as catchy as the one I saw earlier that made me want to see (want to have) this film. Then I watched the opening scene/titles and the 40 steps scene. My wife and I where about to start watching another film (Wanted, 2008). I asked for her patience and showed her the 40 steps scene first. She agreed with me that that was a beautiful scene and she was positively surprised by it hypnotic style. Then we watched Wanted. (Which had cool special effects but didn't convince me in any way: could have skipped that one...) Half an hour ago I finished watching Nowhere to Hide.

I think it is a fascinating movie. Storywise it's not very deep or wide, but that's alright with me. The acting, the photography, the directing and so forth I find very very good. The 40 steps scene reminded me very much of the better Miami Vice (televisionseries) episodes: music framing something horrible, continuing through the whole scene (not fading right after the dramatic climax, but going on for minutes and breathing out inevitability).

Now (while writing) I am playing the movie again.

One could say I really like it. I agree with most of the very enthusiastic reactions I read on IMDb.

Was BLOWN AWAY by the visuals - as pretty much everyone else seems to have been - but now that I want to buy it on DVD, it appears there are 2 versions: running time is either 97 min or 112 min. That is a BIG difference, and could go some way to explaining some of the negative comments above - ? You'll remember those seminal scenes for a looong time. Anyone who loves CINEMA should make a point of seeing it.

"Stylistic" is inevitably the word that comes to mind watching this film. Lee pulls out all the cinematic weapons in his arsenal in this humorous, almost deconstructionist romp through Hong Kong action cinema, film noir, comic books, and more. There are more homages, visual tricks, and musical gags than in almost any film I've seen. And that's a good thing because plot wise this is very generic. Some people are sure to decry the supposed glorification of police brutality. An alternate interpretation that is criticizing the police by showing their basic similarity to the bad guys is too facile to be taken seriously. But despite any possible qualms one might have with any messages being delivered, this film is just plain too fun and funny to not like.

I saw Nowhere to Hide for the first time just 2 nights ago. I recently discovered the wonders of Korean cinema and I purchased it sight-unseen based on what I had heard about the film. After viewing it I've decided that it's a film in search of a loftier goal.

Visually, Nowhere to Hide is a stunning film. I'm tempted to call it experimental since the goal seems to have been more of an experiment in motion rather than a basic action film. From the opening black and white scene to the ending fight set to that "Holiday(?)" song, NtH is true poetry in motion creating an incredible atmosphere through motion.

Unfortunately I feel that the director, Myung-se Lee, sacrificed artistic storytelling for artistic visuals. The film is as average story-wise as it is beautiful visually with its standard "cops search for killer" plot that never goes beyond the standard fare. It helps that Joon-Hoon Park conveys such an interesting character but I felt that the film still lagged through the middle half.

In the end, despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed Nowhere to Hide. As it stands, NtH is certainly worth seeing at least once but, with more focus on plot, it could have been so much more.

That's the rating this film has received so far?! I guess this really is a love-it-or-hate-it film; but I watched it twice in two nights without the benefit of English subtitles, that should tell you something. Even without understandable dialogue it's funny, exciting, and even a bit challenging. It's nice to see a film with artistic merit that isn't afraid to be entertaining. The film's unusual fight scenes are really something to see; at times it appears that the director just let the actors fight while the camera ran, sometimes for up to a minute at a time without any cuts. I can't recommend it enough. I imagine being able to understand it could only be an improvement.