Injeong sajeong bol geot eobtda

I really enjoyed watching this film, I was on the edge of my seat most of the time.It's great to watch a film where the director is in love with the possibilities of film, making use of every trick in the cinematic book. This everything-and-the-kitchen-sink style seems popular in Asia as Tears of the Black Tiger had used a similar approach. Sure, the detective's are made out to be as vicious as the criminals they're chasing but I can't think of too many films that portrayed the police in a positive light (ok, I'll let you have 'Police Academy'). The only problems for me were the somewhat plodding pace between the action sequences and that the audience never got to know anything about Sungmin.

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.

This is an enjoyable, fast-paced action movie that's shot in a frenetic style that almost reminded me of "Run Lola Run". Joong-Hoon Park stars as Woo - the likeable yet violent, dopey yet determined Inchon detective who organizes a manhunt of a cold-blooded killer. The story is routine, yet the visuals and the characters in it are wonderful. Some of the images are beautiful (like the wait leading up to the murder at the beginning of the movie, and the snowstorm later on, and especially the fight during the rainstorm), some are hilarious (such as Woo's brawl with Meathead).

The only time the movie seemed to flag for me was when Woo's partner develops a conscience after killing a suspect in self-defense.

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.