Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time

NAMELESS GANGSTER is a fictional gangster biopic from South Korea that's nonetheless closely based on real-life characters and with a strongly realistic political backdrop of the 1980s to bolster it. It's very much the Korean answer to Scorsese's 1990s hits like GOODFELLAS and CASINO, charting small-time smuggler Choi Min-sik's rise to power after he befriends a distant relative and small-time gangster. Ha Jung-woo, one of my favourite Korean stars, plays this associate and steals all of his scenes while Min-sik compels in a thoroughly weaselly role. The film shies away from action in favourite of strong characterisation and involved plotting. It's an engaging watch.

Totally agree with all the positive reviews, quite original plot and very very entertaining!!

9/10

Stellar Korean Gangster Movie , even Roger Ebert said it's was great and an article . Loved every minute . The acting , the cinematography, the music , the director .Amazeing ! 10 easy

Lasting well over 2 hours and it was fascinating to watch from beginning till the end. It's sort of a South Korean version of "Goodfellas"...

The story: a powerful civil servant, with lots of powerful government connections, gets involved in organized crime in South Korea.

These South Korean mobsters dont use guns by the way, only baseball bats and knives. They beat or stick each other, till their enemies are face down bleeding on the ground, but they do not kill each other with guns. Remarkable! These South Korean gangs do still have certain rules which everyone has to abide to...

The good: suspenseful true to life story, which was based on actual events that took place in South Korea at the beginning of the nineties, in which there was a political power change and consequentially lots of organized crime gangs were taken down heavy handedly by the new government. This movie shows us the rise and fall of these old fashioned Korean mobsters.

Recommended watch for anyone who is into organized crime movies. This is a rock solid one!

A tale of crime, corruption & power, Nameless Gangster concerns a Busan customs officer who along with his corrupt colleagues doesn't mind bribes but when he's on the verge of getting fired & accidentally discovers around 10 kg of crystal meth which he, with the help of a colleague, later sells it to a gangster who turns out to be of the same family clan as his. The rest of the film is about him leaving his customs post & teaming up with this vicious gangster in what later becomes the most powerful crime partnership in Busan.

There isn't much to talk about this film so I'll try to point out the likes & dislikes. Starting with the likes, Choi Min-sik delivers a brilliant performance here as a wannabe gangster whose rise & fall is chronicled in this tale. The rest of the performances are no slouch either. The action is nicely choreographed, the characters are intriguing & overall, it works as a fine gangster film. And as far as the dislikes go, the story could've been more tightly structured, the flow of events could've been smoother & it could've worked with a reduced runtime.

On an overall scale, Nameless Gangster might work for some of its viewers but it's not as impressive as what the other Korean films of its genre has to offer. There are many noticeable flaws in here & the story is just not that interesting either to keep one emotionally invested. It didn't manage to meet up my already mediocre expectations from this film but its family themes & the choice one has to make when faced with loyalty vs own's life are nicely explored. Worth a watch? At least once for sure.