The Age of Shadows

The Age of Shadows
Hangul 밀정
Hanja 密偵
Revised Romanization Miljeong
McCune–Reischauer Milchŏng
Directed by Kim Jee-woon
Produced by Choi Jeong-hwa
Written by Kim Jee-woon
Starring
Music by Mowg
Cinematography Kim Ji-yong
Production
companies
  • Grimm Pictures
  • Warner Bros. Korea
  • Harbin Films
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 3 September 2016 (2016-09-03) (Venice)
  • 7 September 2016 (2016-09-07) (South Korea)
  • 23 September 2016 (2016-09-23) (USA)
Running time
 140 minutes
Country South Korea
Language Korean
Budget $8.62 million
Box office $55.3 million[1][2]

The Age of Shadows (Hangul: 밀정; RR: Miljeong), previously titled Secret Agent, is a 2016 South Korean action thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon and written by Lee Ji-min and Park Jong-dae. The film stars Song Kang-ho and Gong Yoo.[3][4] It was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.[5][6] [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Plot

A Korean police captain named Lee Jung-chool (Song Kang-ho) whose cruel Japanese overlords have charged him with rooting out members of his country’s resistance movement. But while Lee has a history of selling out his own people to secure a favorable position with the Japanese, he’s been hit harder than usual by the death of Kim Jan-ok (Park Hee-soon), a resistance fighter who used to be his classmate. The leader of the resistance, Che-san (Lee Byung-hun), senses that this turncoat, if approached and handled properly, might be turned once more — this time in their favor. And so begins an incremental, ingeniously coded psychological dance between Lee and a key resistance figure named Kim Woo-jin (Gong Yoo), whose antique shop is a front for a scheme to smuggle explosives from Shanghai into Seoul. While Lee could theoretically bring down this operation at any moment, he seems just as likely to become an ally, thanks in no small part to Kim’s skillful application of pressure.

Cast

Production

On August 3, 2015, it was announced that Warner Bros. would finance and distribute its first ever Korean-language 1930s set drama Secret Agent, and the $8.62 million budgeted film would also be produced by Grimm Pictures.[16] The project and script was developed by Lee Ji-min and Park Jong-dae, which Kim Jee-woon would direct and the cast would be Song Kang-ho and Gong Yoo.[16] A trailer was released on July 14, 2016, revealing the new title as The Age of Shadows.[17]

Critical reception

The film has received critical acclaim. It has a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (7.3/10 average rating) and 78% on Metacritic.[18] [19]

The Film Stage gave the film a positive review, writes "In short, mainstream audiences should get a kick out of this polished, often exciting patriotist drama. But those looking for a deeper, mightier resonance would be well advised to keep their expectations in check."[20]

The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as "a patriotic costumer" and says "Several impressive action scenes sustain the tension and electrify this overlong, often hard-to-follow story".[21]

Variety wrote "Cult director Kim Jee-woon delivers the goods with an ultra-stylish cloak-and-dagger actioner".[22]

Screendaily noted that "Local audiences should respond well to the stirring patriotic sentiment on display here".[23]

Box office

The film topped the South Korean box office for three consecutive weeks.[24]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2016 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Film The Age of Shadows Nominated
Best Director Kim Jee-woon Nominated
Best Actor Song Kang-ho Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Um Tae-goo Nominated
Best Art Direction Jo Hwa-seong Nominated
Best Music Mowg Nominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Age of Shadows". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  2. ↑ "The Age of Shadows". The Numbers. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  3. ↑ http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2016/08/141_211425.html
  4. ↑ http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/jsp/news/news.jsp?mode=VIEW&seq=3966
  5. ↑ "S. Korean film "The Age of Shadows" submitted to Oscars". Yonhap News. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Kil, Sonia (30 August 2016). "Warner Bros.' 'Age of Shadows' Picked as Korea's Oscar Contender". Variety. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  7. ↑ http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160831000308
  8. ↑ http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/09/02/79/0200000000AEN20160902008300315F.html
  9. ↑ http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160826000772
  10. ↑ http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2016/09/141_213413.html
  11. ↑ http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=3023330
  12. ↑ http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/09/12/0200000000AEN20160912436600326.html
  13. ↑ http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/10/24/5/0200000000AEN20161024008500315F.html
  14. ↑ http://osen.mt.co.kr/article/G1110472877
  15. ↑ http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/09/27/98/0200000000AEN20160927004600315F.html
  16. 1 2 Kil, Sonia (August 3, 2015). "Warner Bros. Sets Kim Jee-woon's 'Secret Agent' as Debut Korean Production (EXCLUSIVE)". variety.com. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  17. ↑ "[밀정] 1차 예고편 공개 The Age of Shadows (2016) teaser trailer (ENG SUB)".
  18. ↑ "The Age of Shadows Rotten Tomatoes listing" (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_age_of_shadows). Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed 30 September 2016.
  19. ↑ "The Age of Shadows Metacritic listing" (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-age-of-shadows). Metacritic. Accessed 24 September 2016.
  20. ↑
  21. ↑
  22. ↑
  23. ↑
  24. ↑ http://www.soompi.com/2016/09/18/gong-yoo-and-song-kang-hos-age-of-shadows-defends-no-1-at-box-office/

External links

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