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Another excellent movie to discover today Strong characters, interesting plot, a movie based in good acting and not in bullets and fighting action

Gongjak or The Spy Gone North is a spy thriller that looks at the complex political world of North and South Korea and relations during the late 1990's. It is a mix of history and fiction in telling the story of a South Korean spy agent who goes to North Korea under the guise of a businessman through China in order to infiltrate North Korea in search of information about the nuclear program.

The movie's biggest strength is in the cinematography portraying the different locales of China, South Korea, and North Korea in its story telling and in the acting pulling in a cast of well established Korean actors. The camera work and soundtrack is also excellent which work together perfectly in creating high tension key points in the story and providing the movie with excellent pacing.

The story is for the most part is more straight forward than what I expected from a spy thriller. It gets more political after the second half of the movie which is expected due to the nature of story between North and South Korea and it adds a level of complexity. What the movie doesn't do well is explain the motivation that drives the actions of supporting characters. The main character's actions were easy to understand but it was a little bit frustrating not understanding the driving cause of some of the other key characters.

The movie ends with a clear message that will polarize viewers based on their political standing but it does so in an interesting way through the relationship between characters which does tie up the movie fairly well. My biggest critique of this film is that it's too predictable for a spy thriller but it does do a great job narrating the journey.

I am a fan of intrigue/spy thrillers, and I noticed this in the TV schedule so recorded it, initially I thought it was a serial, I did not know anything about it or which country it was about or made by.

I was pleasantly surprised upon opening it, that it was a South Korean movie, having seen a couple from there before, and it turned out to be a lucky move to record it, as it turned out to be excellent.

It starts off as a spy scam, whereby the South Koreans send a spy to pretend to be a business man to infiltrate the north, but evolves into a political thriller, with a few twists and a bit of a opposite buddy's near the end, apparently it's a true story!

Hollywood used to make films like this, but can't seem to do it anymore, It is in the film noir style, and very well made, excellent direction and very good actors, the photography is good, but the best is the character interplay. 60 years ago this might have been a Humphrey Bogart film, like an oriental Maltese Falcon. Watch as soon as you can. Brilliant

This high quality drama is an edgy political thriller throughout, and directed brilliantly by Yoon Jong-bin. The cinematography, the strong cast, the pace, minimalist score and crafted camera work dovetail beautifully to produce a fictional re-telling of a story largely based on truth. The ideologies of two opposed political systems rooted in sister countries of North and South Korea confront one another through the actions of Kim Jong-il (Leader, General and King of the North) and the National Intelligence Service of the South. The quest of the NIS is to determine by whatever means they can devise whether the North is developing nuclear capability, and how close that may be to full militarization. Itself no simple matter! The answer the Director of the NIS is instructed to follow is: send one of his prized assets, a soldier Park (Hwang Jung-min), first to China in the guise of a greedy businessman to build a network of contacts, then if possible, eventually move on to Pyongyang, and Seoul to get close to and manipulate General Kim. Assessing the nuclear threat is agent Park's foremost priority.

That said, the already apparent complicated plot is made more so by believable lucrative and labyrinthine business dealings that have to be set-up and we follow in real time. Agent Park, now businessman Park, is under suspicion from the off and continually tested by an ever cautious communist security service chief. Any mistake by Park in his new persona will lead to exposure and imminent death. The tension and austere nature imposed by DPRK security is palpable, and makes very edgy viewing indeed.

However, while Park progresses and begins to infiltrate into the top echelons other complications arise in his home country. The longstanding ruling Party of 50 years faces a general election in which a new opposition Democrat candidate (allegedly a covert communist sympathiser) wants to reaffirm friendships and form closer trade relations with the North. That level of uncertainty (or as seen by some NIS members, a 'threat' that the South dare not tolerate) compels many of the principle protagonists to either switch their allegiances or change their modus operandi, compounding the cinematic intrigue.

In answer to a few Imdb reviewers who suggest that this movie is slow, they could not be more wrong! To enact the largely historically truthful story in all its glorious intricacies any less accurately by going faster, while maintaining such a superb level of entertainment would be nigh on impossible. This movie is acted slickly and make no mistake is superbly directed. The long build-up in the first half seems necessary to make the story intelligible. Without giving away how the story pans out in the latter half, suffice to say, it makes for an enjoyable, entirely satisfactory, time well-spent coherent watch. Director Yoon Jong-bin especially, and others, particularly the scriptwriters, and supporting cast deserve nominations in the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars. This film comes highly recommended.

What could prove limiting to its worldwide box office appeal is that for English-speaking audiences the dialogue requires subtitles, and that usually reduces audience figures. Don't let that put you off. 'The Spy Gone North' (aka Gongjak) merits 10/10.

A treatment of the never ending problem between North and South Korea, Two economic systems. Two countries that act as proxies of the superpowers and coldly face off to maintain influence in the region. Action suspense plot with unexpected political consequences.

A top flight spy movie. Full of tension, twists and intrigue. Set in what is probably the most intriguing cold war of all time.

This is an excellent movie on all accounts. The fact that it is based on historical events makes it even more special.

Watch it and love it!

The movie is not what I expect. Not an typical spy film at all, with no Tom Crusie style of action scene. Perhaps my poor English prevents me to get a complete understanding of the plot. But to fully follow the story it needs patience.

Fellow Koreans would easily understand the story but not non Koreans. Though at a loss of the details, I grasp the main theme of the story. The north and south pair of male leads both are working together for the good of their countries. But authority behind just want to secure their power at the expenses of the people. Hope I have not got it wrong.

This is a true story and I appreciate the film records those unkowns who sacrifice for the sake of their countries. Meaningful but not entertaining enough.

Gongjak, internationally known as The Spy Gone North, is a gripping mixture of a drama and a thriller based upon historic events. The movie follows a businessman who works as a South Korean secret agent and who is tasked to infiltrate influential North Korean circles by offering the opportunity to shoot commercials for South Korean products in the remote country. He befriends a North Korean economist who hopes to inspire change in his country. Their friendship is put to a test when South Korean politicians try to influence North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to attack South Korean civilians in order to influence upcoming elections. The businessman and secret agent overhears the abominable conspiracy and must decide whether he lays low and lets an incredible crime happen or whether he risks his identity and life in order to try to make Kim Jong-Il change his mind.

The Spy Gone North convinces on numerous levels. First of all, the actors are absolutely outstanding and especially lead characters Hwang Jun-min as seemingly blunt but naive businessman and Lee Sung-min as intelligent and resilient economist deliver marvelous performances. The intriguing story gets more tense, dramatic and complex as the movie progresses and especially the last forty-five minutes will keep you on the edge of your seat. The settings are remarkable as the movie takes place in the People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The crew was obviously not allowed to shoot on location in North Korea and recreated those settings in Taiwan but they still look impressively realistic on screen. One has to applaud the fact that the movie avoids spreading propaganda. The South Koreans are depicted as negatively and at times even worse than North Koreans. Kim Jong-Il is shown as eccentric and socially awkward but also diplomatic and intelligent leader which is a rare perspective. Anyone interested in Korean culture, history and society will particularly admire this movie.

In the end, The Spy Gone North is a tense mixture of a drama and thriller partially based upon historic events. The film's perspective is surprisingly balanced and thought-provoking for anyone interested in Korean culture, history and society. The outstanding acting performances make an already great movie an excellent one which is highly recommended.

It's a more traditional plot, but a few actors put up the whole movie. The plot is too long, the front part of the mattress is slightly redundant.

If you're looking for fun and entertainment, then this isn't the movie you should be watching. It's not your ordinary spy movie packed with action, but rather lots of diplomacy, dialogues and relationship building between people with power carried by a classical 80s setting.

For much of the movie, The Spy Gone North unfolds as a competent espionage thriller. Then the final 30 minutes elevate it to something more a compelling tale of murky politics and unlikely friendship. The tension comes from the fraught atmosphere of mistrust and barely hostility between North and South Korea. Any moment, masks could be ripped off and a gun could go off.

Director Yoon decided to not stick to the typical Hollywood-style spy flick and the result is a new, tense and even darkly comical spy film.

In summary, "The Spy Gone North" is not just an exceptional film within its genre but stands as a formidable entry in the espionage genre. This film is a must-watch for aficionados of the genre and anyone who appreciates cinema that marries intelligence with emotional depth.

This is a korean spy thriller drama about, a true incident of espionage on north korea from the southern sister, via channals in mother china. its an exremely complex plot, but the very good acting by the main actors make this as seeworthy as the east west spy thrillers of the 70's and 80's made by usa , european and soviet filmakers.

its very well worth a thought that the korean issue is a still ongoing conflict, and every time a film like this is put on the market, their northern counterpart usually creates skin attacks and mortar shelling on the DMZ, or starts some navy maneuvers that usually are not announced, or burns up some fireworks that USA and japan gets der untergang spasms from, south korea are doomed anyway if some dirt like that should happen.

one might critizice the slow pace of this film, but its done with a cause, and well worth waiting for. the filmography are true fantastic in all aspects, with the punch of a feinsmeaeckers finrgerspitz, it brings us through great aerials to excitingly focused dialouges.

a darn good thriller thinks the grumpy old man, with recommendations.

Nice production values and period-dressing, scenes set in Seoul, Beijing and Pyongyang. Sympathetic view of North Korea and surprisingly General Kim, harsh slant on SK politicians and Security Agencies. Well made and acted movie, largely ends up as a male bro pic but unification proselytizing just too much.

Really wanted to like this film but had huge problems trying to work out who was who and what exactly was going on. I watched the first half twice but, apart from a general gist of the plot, didn't feel any engagement with the characters or the story, despite the overall plot sounding very interesting. It was all too jumbled - such a pity.

I've been on a SK crime/spy thriller binge for a few months and (as much as I love the SK action style) it was really refreshing to watch one that doesn't rely on action sequences to keep us entertained. Knowing this was loosely based on a true story makes it all the more interesting, and the scenes where our protagonist meets Kim Jong-Il are superbly directed.

At the core is a strong story about cross-border human friendship, and there are some striking juxtapositions of the harsh regime in the authoritarian North against corruption in the democratic South.

Highly recommended as part of a healthy diet which also includes South Korean action and crime movies.

This is so good that I watched it again right after I finished watching the 1st time. Also, I got so many questions after 1st watch, but those were all cleared after the 2nd watch even though I'm not familiar with Korea's history. Politicians are supposed to serve people, to do things for people, but it seems most of them forgot what they were here for after few years, and are afraid of losing power and money. Is the situation better nowadays? I don't know, and there are still many bad politicians everywhere. Still a long way to go. What we can do is to do our best. Maybe we need to try harder to have faith and keep doing the right things, and we will meet some people doing the same things one day even they are hostile. That could change the world. Highly, highly recommend this one.

Cloak and dagger of Koreans films is really good, since the country has been through a lot from a historical view of invasions and Korean war. The dichotomy of South and North is clearly shown in the movie. Although, in reality, its very difficult to infiltrate the North Korean regime, since the leaders are very reticent on what they reveal on nuclear capabilities. However, the South Korean agent who happened to infiltrate the circles of North Koreans seems to be doing the job effortlessly in the film. Though, in real life, a South Korean agent who happened to spy against North Korea will be inspected and suspected instantly. In a particular scene, I was surprised to observe a South Korean leader who told the character not to reveal nuclear intel to CIA with a South Korean flag in the background; usually a North Korean military leader would possibly be a close resemblance to that specific character. Take it with a grain of salt to extrapolate the difference between real life politics and military matters in relations to South and North Korea. Its a really good film though.

It's slow but if patience is applied, the movie come to life. It's captivating and intriguing to see. Not your gun totting spy movie but brilliant on its own

I found it hard to keep up with this subtitled geopolitical movie and multiple characters, however on a second viewing some months later I was able to keep ahead of the story line and intrigues . Fantastic scenery , filmography and class 1 acting by the inscrutable Sung Min Lee and top performance by Hwang Jung-min makes for a enjoyable thriller with very little violence.A story of friendship and love of the motherland , let down by politicians and people in power who wish to promote self worth and gains. A worthwhile watch, based on true events .

Bummer. It fails to become really gripping, let alone thrilling. What's the cause that this movie stays a bit bland? I blame the leading actor, who is lacking charisma.

I mean, come on, when a character is a spy, then he has got to have SOME mischievous, manipulative AND likealbe character treats. But this leading actor is quite dull.

Not any good? The story by itself is interesting. But the execution is lacking. That's a real pity, because this movie was (partly) based on horrific real events. Therefore it is even more of a disappointment that this movie turned out to be so lukewarm. Missed opportunity...

The film is loosely based on the true story of Park Chae-seo, a former South Korean agent who infiltrated North Korea, disguised as a quirky and funny businessman. He finds out that his own government and spy agency is guilty of unethical conduct and double dealings, which causes some unforeseen obstacles. Ultimately, I think this is a very uplifting and humane film promoting peace and reconciliation between North- and South Korea. The picture also finishes on a positive note, with the two main protagonists in the film - from South- and North Korea respectively - having a warm and profound reunion, trying their best to improve business relations between their countries, and jointly deconstructing cultural and political barriers. Indeed, the future between those two sister countries must undoubtedly be one of peace and harmony :)

The Spy Gone North is a South Korean political thriller co-written and directed by Yoon Jong-bin, (known for "Nameless Gangster" and "Kundo"). This is the true story of Park Chae-seo, a former South Korean agent who infiltrated North Korean nuclear facilities. In this effective thriller, we enter a magnificent interior with multiple meanders, this movie recalls a little (The Bridge of spies of S. Spielberg) here carried out effectively with a pointed and subtle scenario, makes us enter a freezing universe of high-risk espionage, between manipulations and betrayals, ambiguous relations with preconceived ideas, on the two Koreas which have always maintained, in secret, close ties, despite the propaganda of the two states in question. Also to see this great actor by talent: "Jung-Min Hwang" in the role of the spy: (Suk-young Park / Black Venus) in simply ordinary character and who will claim the place of the human in a system dehumanizing and authoritarian in an inflexible North Korea. A strong movie without ever falling into irrational exaggeration. A movie to discover for its strength.

In East Asia the 2 countries of 1 land have been politically maneuvered since the truce was signed at the end of the Korean War. The Americans most certainly don't want to see a united Korea; as they would lose a strategically important advantage of having a Military presence in Asia.

In the mid-1990s, a loyal South Korean secret agent is caught in a political vortex plotted by the ruling classes of North and South Korea.

That is the plot for this spy adventure thriller and it is one heck of a thriller I can tell you! If you have ever seen the 1935 film 'The 39 Steps' or the 1979 -from the John Le Carre book of 1974- film, 'Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy' you will know just how good this is. Its over 2 hours in length and unfurls at a very slow pace but, the slow path is an important part of the weaving and manipulation of the party's involved in what has been described in the past as, "The Greatest Game". And the risks are high...your life!

Its a gritty tense film so intricately woven and presented from the true story that it is based upon. The actors give a superb performance and they are so believable in their, will he, has he, what is, has it, can it, did it etc, etc cat and mouse game. There are a couple of time goofs which should really have been digitally corrected (should have been only one dictators statue in North Korea as Kim Jong Il's statue was not erected until after his father died). But camera work and lighting and detail was spot on. An excellent film that will keep people willing to give a foreign film with subtitles a viewing because, you/they will not be displeased!

The sad thing about the real spy that the film is based upon (its okay this is not a spoiler as it tells you in the credits.) is that he was imprisoned for 6 years -used as a scapegoat by the higher echelon scumbags- when, he should have been given a medal and extended the highest thanks from those miserable corrupt politicians of the era.