Public Enemy (2002)

Name: Public Enemy
Genre: Action, Crime
Released: 2002-01-25
Duration: 138 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Sul Kyung-gu, Lee Sung-jae, Kang Shin-il, Kim Jung-hak, Do Yong-gu

Public Enemy (2002), directed by Kang Woo-suk, starring Sul Kyung-gu and Lee Sung-jae.

01/25/2002 BR Action and Crime 2h 18m

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Quiz about this movie

Lawless cops and a savage killer battle to the bitter end!

Synopsis

A notorious dirty cop makes an honest attempt to catch a serial killer who even murdered his own parents.

Kim Sung-bokCinematography
Kang Woo-sukDirector
고임표Editing
이민호Producer

공공의 적 시리즈

The franchise in release order. 3 films.

공공의 적 2002 · you are here
공공의 적 2 2005
공공의 적 1-1: 강철중 2008

About the film

Public Enemy (Korean: 공공의 적) is a 2002 South Korean neo-noir action thriller film directed by Kang Woo-suk. The film was well received by audiences and critics alike, being seen by almost 3 million people in South Korea, while winning Sul Kyung-gu Best Actor at the Grand Bell Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards for his lead role. The success of the film led to the making of the sequel Another Public Enemy in 2005.

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Plot

The film's plot pits a tough loose-cannon cop, Kang Chul-joong, and a psychopathic killer, Cho Kyu-hwan, against each other. Kang typifies the anti-hero cop genre, taking bribes and stealing drugs from criminals. His career is in a slump and internal affairs are investigating his actions. The antagonist Cho, on the other hand, leads a life as a successful business and family man. Under his cool exterior however, he displays a total disregard for others, killing people for the slightest perceived misdeed.

The two main characters first meet by chance in a dark alley shortly after Cho brutally murders his parents for monetary reasons. Cho first asked then started begging to get his parents to leave their will to him. After his parents refuse, Cho gets a knife and stabs them both dozens of times. He sprays flour all around their body and washes the excess blood by taking a shower. Then he starts walking to get rid of the murder weapon. Kang is defecating in the dark alley during an unrelated stakeout and runs into Cho, who ends up slashing Kang in the face with a knife.

Kang later joins the investigation into the murders, but doesn't recognize Cho as he didn't get a good look at his face. His instincts tell him that something is wrong about Cho, and Kang starts stalking him. Kang soon convinces himself that Cho is the murderer, although no one else believes that he has a case. He is eventually fired from the police force and becomes a traffic cop.

Eventually, Kang discovers a crucial piece of evidence, a broken fingernail, at the murder scene and confronts Cho with it. This leads to the two facing off against each other in a fight, which ends with Kang beating Cho to death. Kang is restored to the force, and at the end his internal affairs tail reports that he "is getting better."

Cast

Sul Kyung-gu ... Kang Chul-joong

Lee Sung-jae ... Cho Kyu-hwan

Kang Shin-il ... Chief Investigator Uhm

Kim Jeong-hak ... Detective Kim

Do Yong-gu ... Detective Nam

Awards and nominations

2002 Chunsa Film Art Awards

Best Supporting Actor - Kang Shin-il

2002 Baeksang Arts Awards

Jury Prize

2002 Grand Bell Awards

Best Actor - Sul Kyung-gu

2002 Blue Dragon Film Awards

Best Actor - Sul Kyung-gu

References

External links

Public Enemy at IMDb

Public Enemy at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)

Public Enemy at HanCinema

Public Enemy review at Koreanfilm.org

Text from Public Enemy (2002 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Enemy_(2002_film)

Trivia

It premiered on January 25, 2002, a Friday.
It runs 2h18 — a typical feature length.
Its original title is "공공의 적".
It is film 1 of 3 in the 공공의 적 시리즈 franchise.
This film's quiz has 11 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.