The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil is a 2019 film that was shown at the Cannes Film Festival during the Midnight Screenings and is considered apart of the festival's official selection. Lee Won Tae wrote the script as well as directed the film. There is said to be a remake in the works that's re-casted lead actor, Ma Dong Seok(Train to Busan) who originally starred in the Korean film alongside Kim Mu Yeol(Bad Guys), and Kim Sung Kyu(Kingdom, The Outlaws).
A murderer who fakes car accidents on the road then kills the person in the other car is on the loose. Cops are trying to be on his trail but have no luck until the murder tries to kill a big time gangster on a rainy night. One of the lead cops on the case is an unleashed hot head who will do anything to solve this case. Even team up with a revengeful gangster for a competition of who can catch the murderer first. Do you think this devil can outwit the two men?
This is the type of film that you can watch mindlessly if you choose to. The script is very easily laid out for the viewer to understand as a "chase the killer thriller". Won Tae attempts to give some kind of substance in the story, especially when the film arrives past the midway mark of the film. Here is when the film talks more about the legal laws that would put the murderer behind bars. Still, nothing feels to me like a dull moment. The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil quickly goes from one point to another without taken a breather, making the film experience a fun one. I wouldn't say that this film brings anything new to the "Gangster" genre coming out of South Korea though. Instead we are reminded of the reasons why South Korea has given the world such amazing hard-hitting Gangster films such as Bittersweet Life, A Dirty Carnival, and, Real World.
Won Tae sets the foundation in the introductions of the characters. It's not something you think too much about while you're watching the film but you don't get a lot of background about the characters. The script writing gives you just enough through the character's actions to create an imagination of what the characters were doing before we got to know them. For example, We get to see a picture of the murderer before he started killing people and you understand him a bit more just from that piece of information. Ma Dong Seok playing a gangster is a dead give away role for the actor. His looks embodies a gangster by themselves. What I will say about Ma's performance is that he sparks fear in you while still also showing an essence of humanity. The complexity his character makes you want to figure him out. Kim Mu Yeol might as well have been a gangster wearing a police badge. His acting blurred the lines between what is a cop and what is a gangster in my opinion. Outside of a few times that Ma's character had to put a person in his place, his character was much more cool, calm, and collected than Mu Yeol's hot head behavior he used constantly to get his points across. The character was literally a corrupt cop who would do whatever it took to catch the criminal. Both him and Ma bounce of of each other's performances for a chemistry that's comedic, yet sometimes down right insane. Lastly we have our "Devil", Kim Sung Kyu. The performance he gave was riveting to the point that he put me in mind of other Korean actors who gave stellar performances as murderers in other Korean films. Korean actors know how to get into a dark frame of mind when approaching these roles. I've never seen so many actors looking just cray cray. Seeing a character smiling as that crazed look comes into their eyes gets me every time. One last thing I want to make note of about the characters is that they all had violent tendencies. At the end of the day not one of them were angels either. It was more about the simple fact that the lesser of two evils had to come together to put a greater evil away. In another life all three characters might have been friends had the situation and positions been different.
Dark, gritty films must be shot a certain way to maximize the effect. I noticed when watching this film how Won Tae makes smart use of shots at various angles to shows the scene to viewers. He loves shooting from above the action so you feel a sense of being an observer witnessing something you shouldn't. Artistically he also zooms the focus out from far back in shots like a scene done in an alley way. This was one of my favorite scenes to look at in the whole entire film.
The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, was hands down a good film. If you want a film containing the right amount of action packed storytelling then you've come to the right place. It's the kind of film that has a high replay value and is easy to recommend to fans of the action genre.
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