Public Enemy (film)

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This article is about the South Korean film. For other uses, see Public enemy.


Public Enemy
Directed by	Kang Woo-suk
Produced by	Kang Woo-suk
Written by	Baek Seung-jae Jung Yoon-seup Kim Hyun-jung Chae Yoon-suk
Starring	Sol Kyung-gu Lee Sung-jae
Editing by	Ko Im-pyo
Distributed by	Cinema Service
Release date(s)	January 25, 2002 (South Korea)
Running time	135 min.
Language	Korean
Followed by	Another Public Enemy
IMDb profile
Korean name
Hangul:	공공의 적
Hanja:	公共의敵
Revised Romanization:	Gonggongui jeok
McCune-Reischauer:	Konggong'ŭi chǒk

Public Enemy is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Kang Woo-suk.

The film was well-received by audiences and critics alike, being seen by almost 3 million people in Korea while winning Sol Kyung-gu the South Korean film industry's Grand Bell Award for his lead role. The success of the film led to the making of the sequel Another Public Enemy in 2005.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film's plot pits a tough loose-cannon cop, Kang Chul-jung, 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 monetal reasons. Kang is out taking a dump in the alley during an unrelated stakeout and runs into Cho, who ends up slashing Kang in the face with a knife.

Later on Kang joins in the investigation of 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 around, soon getting convinced that Cho is the murderer, while no one else believes that he has a case.

Eventually, Kang discovers a crucial piece of evidence, a broken fingernall, in the murder scene and confronts Cho about it. This leads to the two facing off against each other in a fight, which ends with Kang beating Cho to death.