A Hard Day

Director Kim Seong-hoon's sophomore film A Hard Day arrives 8 years after his directorial debut, How The Lack Of Love Affects Two Men was released back in 2006.

Now, this film is a nerve racking roller-coaster ride, so the less you know going in the better. I shall attempt to introduce this film in one sentence: A comedy-action-thriller about the chaos that ensues after a detective is involved in a hit and run.

The film smoothly and skillfully balances the dark comedy, action and thriller elements, giving us ingenious set pieces (a particularly memorable one involving a toy soldier...) and also well-paced and effective suspense. The film does not waste a shot, let alone a scene to make audiences laugh, squirm and be intrigued through it's twists and turns. It's tightly-wound from beginning to end and will surely be one of the best times you'll have in the cinema (or in your home) this year.

Lee Seon-gyun (who you may recognize from Hong Sang-soo's films such as Nobody's Daughter Haewon) plays the lead role of detective Ko, a divorced father of a little girl who may not be the most ethical of cops. Lee carries the film, delivering a charismatic and humorous performance that makes us root for his character when he is faced with tough situations and pitted against Cho Jin-Woong's formidable protagonist. Kudos to Cho for interestingly pulling off a role that could have easily been bland.

This film was also filmed beautifully. It's gorgeous to look at, thanks to cinematographer Kim Tae-Sung, who gives us dynamic and impressive shots (one that immediately comes to mind is an overhead shot during a chase).

It's refreshing to see a South Korean film that's playful and never stops being fun, after the recent slew of superb but disturbing, dark thrillers such as I Saw The Devil, New World and The Man From Nowhere. Don't be fooled, this film has its dark moments. Most importantly, it holds one of the quintessential elements of movies: taking audiences on a ride that endlessly intrigues and keep them wanting more, having no clue where the next moment will take them.

I usually do not like Korean movies – it is either too violent or too sensational with scripts that generally lacks originality - but this one is quite good: very interesting plot with lots of twists and suspense and humor.

The movie centers around a divorced cop, Go Geon-soo (Lee Sun Gyun), on the day of his mom's funeral when he accidentally kills a pedestrian. Since he is in a hurry, he decides to put the corpse into her coffin and deal with it later. Strange calls starts to come into the police station and Go is threatened by a man who claims to be a witness of the accident. Meanwhile, Go is assigned to investigate this accident where pedestrian seems to be an important person in the police's wanted list.

Just the packed elements within the case are interesting to follow. Then with all the twists and surprises it is engaging throughout to watch. Excellent directing with a brisk tempo which leads you deep the puzzle. The story is easy to follow but the mood is not serious or heavy because every now and then there is always something funny that make you chuckle/surprise or awe.

I like the camera-work too which always leads the audience to see from a different angle. The framing is artistically pleasant, including a lengthened aerial shot of a chase scene up a flight of stairs and across traffic. I literally held my breath to watch that one.

Corrupted police are everywhere but how the script presents the story is very interesting and it is kind of fun to put all the coincidences together to make a coherent story with some clever types of black humor.

The actors are quite good too. The only complaint I have is perhaps too much violence in certain scene – though it is probably mild compared to other violent Korean movies I have seen.

If you like witty laugh and suspense you would not be disappointed.

A hard day indeed as the international title of the movie goes. One of the best movies I had the pleasure to watch in 2014. If you like you dark humor that is not afraid to go places and a story that twists and turns and gives the viewer (and the main character) new challenges to deal with every other 5 minutes, you're in for a treat.

You may be able to spot a couple of things, but in general this is really a refreshing experience with many action sequences combining "horror" and comedy (that's everyday horror, as in what can go wrong and so forth). A great mixture that allows for set pieces that are original and a genuine funny viewing experience for the audience. I can highly recommend this

Whoa! what a thrill efffin ride!! this was my first reaction after watching the movie!!i gave it a standing ovation.It has been a long long time since a movie captured my attention from beginning to end,without even a single dull moment in its running time of over 90 minutes. I was so looking forward to see this one,and boy did it mesmerize me!and how!!

The movie has a dark undertone to its mischievous and reckless plot.Here we have a tense,gritty protagonist Lee Sun-kyun running through several escalating situations on an unfortunate day leading to a face off with a manic antagonist.There is a swift swap between the antihero-hero nature of the protagonist.I don't want to give away the plot but i will give you this,the plot is just exploding with an unrelenting exuberance that does not stop until the end credits start rolling.There is a never ending sense of what happens next.This relentless thriller captivates your attention from the opening shots,and never lets go.Special credits to the lead actors for they have done a neat job playing the characters straight,the only way to play it for a gripping plot such as this.Sometimes the movie feels like a highly stylized comedy of errors with some ingeniously crafted action sequences.

All in all 'a hard day' is a well shot genuine thriller disguised as a crime drama with underlying dark humour.It has all the scope of becoming a future cult classic.I would be surprised if it didn't.You would not be disappointed even if you watched with high expectations.

9/10.Cheers.

I don't remember seeing another Korean movie recently. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if I realize later that this is my first one.

I'm European and my initial reaction, the first couple of minutes, was a quiet laughter because the language sounded funny. But soon after that the impossible plot and situations starting to unfold...

This is about a corrupted Korean homicide detective who drives his car on his way to attend his mother's funeral. What happens during his ride to the funeral home might happen to anyone, but his actions after the fact escalate in a way that is both funny and tragic. The plot thickens and he finds himself in a roller-coaster of crime, bad luck and bad decisions. The conclusion is satisfying though!

The direction is very very good. Adds to the thrilling sensation that many of the scenes have, but also has a definite black sense of humor. The main actor gives an exaggerate performance but maybe that's what this part needed.

Overall: If you come across it, watch it.