Public Enemy - Ein harter Cop

There is no denying that it is good to see this film released in the uk around the summer blockbuster season (i saw this film in a ugc multiplex which was playing as part of a season of asian films released across the summer), but this film in particular suffers from flaws, mainly a plot that is unoriginal and scenes and situations that dont seem to stick together, the change in mood for instance, from almost slapstick comic to dark murder thriller, but that is not to say that the film is not good, there are many scenes and themes that work well, such as the contrast between the tough maverick cop and the arrogant and psychotic fund manager who has shades of AMERICAN PSYCHO'S Patrick Bateman, and the use of dark humour which seems to be present in many of the recent asian cinema releases. Overall a film worth checking out but not one to keep your hopes up high for.

During a stakeout a corrupt cop, under investigation by Internal Affairs, has his face slashed by a mysterious character wearing a raincoat. A connection is made between a brutally murdered elderly couple not far away from the previous incident and this rain coated man. The cop believes the couple's son might have involved in the murder and decides to investigate him.

So you have here two characters in supposedly respectable occupations (one a cop, the other a fund manager) who ain't angels. This is more obvious in the cop's physical appearance, his drug dealing and his sharing a hot bath with Korean sort of yakuza, even though the introduction of the manager character played by Lee Sung-jae (a familiar face now in the West starring in films such as Attack the Gas Station, Barking Dogs Never Bite & Art Museum by the Zoo) is quite revealing too. Masturbating and swearing in the shower in an interesting shot that completely isolates him, then we see him sharing a breakfast and playing with his wife and son in the warmth of a comfortable house. I have to say that the first 20 minutes of the film are rather interesting because the character's ambiguity still play an important role. Then all falls apart simply because of the cop's sort of rediscovery of his duty after seeing the dead bodies of the elderly couple (or is it he is only jealous at the manager's lifestyle). It all becomes a bit of a farce that w e're supposed to take seriously as the film has to make serious compromises after such a bleak beginning. "Nobody does something like that to somebody's parent without any motive" he says "for me they are public enemies". I hate to judge films by comparing them to others but Public Enemy has a too much of a Dirty Harry influence (this really put me off), a too cliché supportive boss, who is got to deal with the more bureacratic and politically correct higher hierarchies of the police department, and a array of weird characters, all criminals, that helps the cop to catch his so-called Public Enemy. The cop's trademark speech when confronting criminals really got on my nerves and not many in the audience found it funny anyway.

The good thing is about the bad guy in the movie... the text on the DVD box told about a corrupt cop vs. a psychopath... Well, I feared the psychopath was a serial killer with all the nauseating, fetishist rituals stuff "a la" Seven or other movies alike. But the killer is almost a normal guy (as much as a killer can be a "normal guy"!), killing with a purpose... Well, the guy is seriously crazy anyway, killing for very trivial motives, such as a man spilling his drink on him.

The bad thing in the movie is a kind of a scatological scene. It may seem trivial for some people, but for me, it wasted my enjoyment. Apart from that and 2 or 3 bloody sequences this is a very good movies.

Simple story here, a cop chases down a psychotic serial killer. He is the only one who believes that this respected, wealthy, family man is the serial killer, and so must bring about some under-handed methods whilst keeping the politicians off his back. What the film lacks in story it makes up for in complex relations and psychological warfare. A stroke of genius coming about once Gyu-Hwan (the killer) kills a man not related to the murder of his parents, just to tease Chul-Jung (the cop). The film begins by letting us get to know the two characters, Chul-Jung's partner shoots himself leaving Chul-Jung to be the focus of an internal investigation, while he also tries to get rid of some heroin. Gyu-Hwan is introduced ferociously masturbating in the shower, before exiting the bathroom and greeting his son. The film, like a few Korean police thrillers ('Memories of Murder', 'Nowhere to Hide') has a fantastic sense of humour to counteract the shocking scenes of violence. One scene has Chul-Jung on a stakeout, running round the streets in the rain trying to find a place to take a dump. The film can be looked at as a commentary on social status, as the cop has a bad reputation, and is tainted as he tries to do the right thing. The psychopathic serial killer, is highly respected, possibly because of his wealth. The murder scenes are at times chilling, while the fight scenes are brutal and never unbelievable (apart from a hilarious encounter in a shop between Chul-Jung and a large number of gangsters). An interesting array of supporting characters, fill in any holes that this film leaves through lack of originality, the chief of homicide, and a knife expert being among my favourites. The film seems needlessly long in places, and since we as the audience know who the killer is the investigation can get frustrating, although this may be used to reflect the anger of Chul-Jung and nobody believing him. Speaking of Chul-Jung it is very, very hard to get to like him as he is a bit of a low-life and this is a shame as it becomes hard to be brought into his world. By the end however he sort of redeems himself. The performances are wonderful from the two leads, and rather than trying to upstage each other, like good actors they play off each other and seem to be enjoying it when their character has the upper hand. It's a film that is comfortable being what it is, never wanting to push the boundaries, but offering a brilliant, tense and funny cat and mouse thriller.

The trailer makes this movie seem like a slick visually rich thriller about a cop chasing down a cold killer, unfortunately the film doesn't live up to that premise.

Movie There's certainly some strong character moments but they are left under developed and under explored, they're treated all too lightly and often too comically. The visually slick scenes are also too underused and separated by weak character follow through, so one strong moment on screen isn't built upon with the characters.

The film is very much a merging of two styles, taught thriller and often slapstick comedy. For me this just doesn't work, these two styles belong far apart.

The story focuses on the rise of a killer pitched against the fall of a cop, a cop who has given up on his career and any morale boundaries, believing only in himself and obtaining cash any way he can.

As the killer rises in his chosen path the cop stumbles upon him, realises and then finds a purpose to his job. Yet this is not is salvation, it comes as he reaches his lowest point and all there is left is the single, all consuming cause of catching the killer.

It's really interesting to read the plot like that as it does read as a good movie, but intersperse the comedy and the unexplored avenues of the characters and story, and it really does bring the movie down. It's not just a case of realising these lost opportunities after the fact, as they pop up I actually caught myself audibly questioning why they'd just walked away from a scene. At times it was a frustrating movie.

You'll see this in some of the decisions the cop makes and the investigations. They're all too convenient and almost too much of a leap not only to believe but also to understand. This and the weak, unexplored characters don't bring any affinity to the audience.

That's the failing part of the movie. As it could have been such a great film combining American Psycho and Heat, but it just never gets that far and just gets distracted.

Audio Presented: Dolby Digital 2.0 / 5.1, DTS The audio is solid here with a good DTS soundtrack, but nothing special that takes advantage of the speakers available. The music sometimes overpowered the story at key points, and at others was quite effective, but overall quite forgettable.

Picture Presented: 16:9 Anamorphic Good picture overall with some difficult scenes combining night and rain together, they look dark and dreary yet retaining a bold contrast.

Extras Presented: Behind the Scenes, Deleted Scenes, Music Video, Outtakes, Asia Extreme Trailers The Behind the Scenes were interesting, showing such things as the recreation of full upper body sculptures from the actors for the dead characters. There's also a lot more insight into the characters and how the actors played them.

The Deleted Scenes and Outtakes were simply that, although some proved quite amusing at repeating the slapstick moments. The music video is quite good, as are the Extreme Trailers, but an overall poorer offering in terms of extras.

Overall A very interesting plot that just gets glossed over far too quickly, and with the concentration seeming to be on the comedy rather than character and story progression, it doesn't really attract too well. It's an interesting DVD to watch, but an unfulfilling story.