The Thieves

The Thieves
Hangul	도둑들
Revised Romanization	Dodukdeul
McCune–Reischauer	Todukdŭl
Directed by	Choi Dong-hoon
Produced by	Ahn Soo-hyun
Written by	Choi Dong-hoon Lee Ki-cheol
Starring	Kim Yoon-seok Lee Jung-jae Kim Hye-soo Jun Ji-hyun
Music by	Jang Young-gyu
Cinematography	Choi Young-hwan
Edited by	Shin Min-kyung
Distributed by	Showbox/Mediaplex
Release dates	July 25, 2012 (2012-07-25)[1]
Running time	136 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean Japanese English Mandarin Cantonese
Budget	US$14.1 million (₩15.2 billion)
Box office	US$86,655,225[2]

The Thieves (Hangul: 도둑들; RR: Dodukdeul; MR: Todukdŭl) is a 2012 South Korean heist film directed by Choi Dong-hoon with an all-star ensemble cast.^[3][4][5][6]

Splashy action in overseas locations is mixed with double-dealings and multiple betrayals as a gang of South Korean thieves team up with a Hong Kong crew to steal a diamond necklace from a heavily guarded casino safe in Macau.^[7]

With over 12.9 million ticket sales, the action comedy is currently the fourth highest grossing movie in Korean film history.

Plot

Two professional thieves - middle-aged Chewing Gum (Kim Hae-sook) and young cat burglar Yenicall (Jun Ji-hyun) - rob the wealthy owner of Leesung Gallery (Shin Ha-kyun) of a rare artifact. The theft is organized by Popie (Lee Jung-jae) and assisted by his associate Zampano (Kim Soo-hyun). Immediately after, they are visited by a police detective (Ju Jin-mo) who is hot on Popie's trail. Deciding it is too risky to stay in Korea, the four join a heist led by South Korean master thief Macau Park (Kim Yoon-seok), Popie's former boss. Popie brings along safecracker Pepsee (Kim Hye-soo), Park's old flame, who was just released on parole.

In Hong Kong, Chinese veteran thief Chen (Simon Yam), Jonny (Derek Tsang) and Andrew (Oh Dal-su), rob a jewelry shop. After Park contacts them about the heist, they are joined by Julie (Angelica Lee), the daughter of a professional safecracker.

Park meets the two teams at a restaurant and reveals the plan. The target is the "Tear of the Sun" diamond, in the possession of Madame Tiffany (Yeh Soo-jung), who is coming to Macau to visit a casino. Tiffany is a mistress of crime boss Wei Hong (Ki Gook-seo). Park intends to sell the diamond back to Wei Hong. This is a very risky venture as Wei Hong is known for murdering anyone who crosses him. The teams agree to join after Park reveals that the diamond is worth US$20 million. When Popie reveals Pepsee's presence, Park refuses to let her join the heist.

The characters' intentions are revealed afterwards. Julie is a police officer infiltrating the team to get a lead on Wei Hong. Chen, Johnny and Andrew don't trust Park and only aim for Tiffany's money. A flashback reveals that Macau Park, Pepsee and Popie used to be partners. In their last heist together, Park's cable snapped when escaping and he disappeared with the gold they had stolen. Pepsee, heartbroken by the apparent betrayal, went to the police and was jailed. Pepsee persuades Park to let her join the heist and steals his list of fences for the diamond. Popie, who earlier orders a fake diamond made, discusses the plan with Pepsee, while Yennicall eavesdrops on them.

Mark introduces the team to his informant, Tiffany's step-sister, and lays out the heist plan. Chen and Chewing Gum keep Tiffany occupied in the VIP casino room. Yennicall, assisted by Zampano, infiltrates Tiffany's private suite and open the door from the inside. Julie, Pepsee and Popie get in the suite and open the two safes, one of which allegedly contains the diamond. Jonny and Andrew infiltrate the security room and cut off any contact with the outside. They plan to be out within 10 minutes after cutting off the casino's communication, after which the police will be dispatched to the scene.

They find out that none of the safes contain the diamond. The police, tipped off of the heist, rush in the casino. Chen grabs Tiffany's money and runs off with Chewing Gum in a car, getting fatally shot in the process. Both die as the car crashes into a wall. Zampano distracts the police and is arrested as Yennicall gets away. Jonny escapes. In the commotion, an old janitor (Macau Park in disguise), steals and hides the diamond. Andrew, Popie and Pepsee are arrested and taken to the police station, trailed by Park. A fight breaks out in the van. The policemen lose control of the van and it crashes into a lake. Andrew and Popie run off while Pepsee is still handcuffed inside the van. Park jumps into the lake to save Pepsee.

Pepsee meets Popie, furious that he left her to drown, but he brushes the issue aside. The team now only has Andrew, Popie, Pepsee and Yennicall. They track down Park's informant and forces her cooperation. They learn that Park will make the trade in Busan Grand Hotel. Park is both under surveillance of Hong Kong police (assisted by the Korean detective) and trailed by Andrew. When Park go to meet the informant, Popie, Pepsee and Yennicall break in is room to find the diamond. As the informant stalls Park, their conversation takes an unexpected turn. Park reveals that Popie was in love with Pepsee and sabotaged his cable. After the fall broke his leg, he spent two weeks evading the police. When he got back to the safehouse, he sees Popie seducing a drunken Pepsee and concludes that the two betrayed him together.

Pepsee, now knowing the full story, quits the team and leaves the hotel, warning Park to escape. Yennicall finds the hidden diamond and escapes through the crawlspace. Park meets with Wei Hong and leads him to his hotel room. Seeing Wei Hong entering the hotel, Hong Kong SWAT police enter it as well. A firefight breaks out; Park barely escapes. Yennicall throws the diamond to Popie and poses as a hotel guest to leave the scene. Popie runs away with the diamond, pursued by Andrew, but the two find out that it is a fake. Popie is arrested and Andrew flees. Wei Hong gets away, assisted by the corrupt Korean detective.

At the Busan Pier, Park sees Pepsee but doesn't make contact when he sees Wei Hong there to kill him. When Julie arrives to arrest Pepsee, Park provokes Wei Hong into shooting at him. Julie wounds Wei Hong and arrests him, as Park and Pepsee leaves the scene separately. Back in Korea, Pepsee returns to Popie's garage and learns that he is in prison, and Yennicall is still in Hong Kong trying to find a buyer for the diamond. She also finds a stash of gold left by Park in her car trunk.

On a plane to Hong Kong, Pepsee meets Leesung Gallery's owner and takes him to the hotel where Yennicall is staying. As Yennicall tries to hide from the man, Pepsee learns that Park already stole the diamond from Yennicall and he promises to reunite with her soon.

Cast

Production

Casting negotiations began since late 2010,^[26] and on March 21, 2011, film distributor Showbox confirmed the star-studded cast in a press release. Director Choi Dong-hoon was quoted: "These are the very actors that inspired me to write what I have for the movie's script starting from its first line. I'm dreaming of creating explosive ensembles that will clash or harmonize within a single movie due to their different styles."^[27] Choi later confessed that the thought of directing this group of high-profile actors and actresses was "really scary", but "during filming, I couldn't take my eyes off the monitor because of the charisma of all these actors. Never did it occur to me that they needed to be handled in a certain way. It's just that the screenplay must be fully understood... We talk. Slowly infect them with my thoughts, mixing the individual with the movie's tone and manner."^{[5][6][28][29]}

Calling Choi "a genius who also works extremely hard," actress Kim Hye-soo was in awe when she first read the script, saying, "It was a product of great effort, genius ideas and a detail-oriented, calculative mind. I think he knows who he is, the exact kind of films that he wants to make, and how to make them. The Thieves proves it."^[30]

On comparisons with Ocean's Eleven, the director said he never went into production consciously thinking about the hit Hollywood film. Though similar to it, he thinks The Thieves is actually closer to his previous films The Big Swindle and Tazza: The High Rollers, with the action featured "invested with more emotion." Kim Yoon-seok added that contrary to the characters' compatible and harmonious collaboration in Ocean's Eleven, "In The Thieves, we are all over the place, all with our own faults. But I think that you will see through the friendships and love in the film, our unique emotional developments will show through."^[6][31]

After six months of location shoots in Seoul, Busan,^[32] Macau,^[33] and Hong Kong, filming wrapped up on December 7, 2011.^[34][35][36]

Box office

With 436,622 tickets sold on the day of its release, The Thieves recorded the second highest single day opening of all time in Korea after The Host opened with 449,500 tickets sold in 2006.^[37] On its sixth day of release, it broke the 3 million mark in audience number, drawing 3.35 million viewers. ^[38][39][40] In eight days, the numbers had risen to 4,365,078 tickets,^[41][42] by the eleventh day, it drew 6.2 million viewers,^[43][44][45] by the thirteenth day, 7 million,^[46][47] and over 8 million by the sixteenth day.^[48][49][50]

After 22 days, it reached the "magic number" of 10 million viewers, only the sixth film to have done so in Korean film history.^{[51][52][53][54][55][56][57]} Kim Soo-hyun then fulfilled his public pledge to give a piggyback ride to the 10 millionth ticket holder, a middle school girl.^[58]

After reaching over 11 million viewers on its fourth week, it rose to number 4 on the Korean all-time box office charts, beating Haeundae.^{[59][60][61][62]} It then passed 12 million to leapfrog over Taegukgi,^[63][64] and on its sixth week its 12.31 million overtook King and the Clown's record to become the second highest grossing movie in Korean film history.^{[65][66][67][68]}

Though the film's promoter sent out a press release that The Thieves reached 13,020,393 admissions on October 2 (70 days since its opening), making it the new number 1 on the all-time box office chart,^{[69][70][71][72][73]} the Korean Film Council reported the actual admissions to be at 12,983,334 — leaving the previous record of The Host unbroken.^[74]

from 2015.09 this movie ranked a 3rd grade on the films in South Koreal box office chart.

International release

The distribution rights to the picture were purchased by several countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Vietnam.^[75][76][77] It made its North American premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival,^[78] and was distributed in the US by Well Go USA Entertainment.^[79] Well Go released it on DVD and Blu-ray on February 12, 2013.

Film festivals

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website (Korean)
• The Thieves at the Internet Movie Database
• The Thieves at the Korean Movie Database
• The Thieves at HanCinema