Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Secret Reunion

After enjoying The Righteous Thief, South Korean film opens up a whole new genre of film. In The Secret Reunion, a detective for the National Investigative Service is on a personal mission to capture "The Shadow" and bring him to justice. This Shadow is a North Korean assassin operating in the South and tasked with bringing defectors to justice (i.e. kill them). When he and his young apprentice slip away again, our detective is fired for his failure. The bulk of the story takes place six years later when the detective (now private) accidentally encounters the apprentice and a little game of cat-and-mouse ensues. This is part buddy-cop film, part soul-searching-identity-development, part police-procedural. I do think it is interesting that the films cross-over to appeal to me (western film-goer) without pause. There are few strange cultural references or inside jokes that I can see but don't understand, which I often expect when I am watching foreign films.
4 stars (out of 5)

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