The Thieves
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | 도둑 들 ( Dodukdeul ) |
| Country of production | South Korea |
| original language | Korean |
| Publishing year | 2012 |
| length | 136 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Choi Dong-hoon |
| script | Choi Dong-hoon, Lee Ki-cheol |
| production | Ahn Soo-hyun |
| music | Jang Yeong-gyoo |
| camera | Choi Yeong-hwan |
| cut | Shin Min-kyeong |
| occupation | |
| |
The Thieves (original title: 도둑 들 Dodukdeul ) is a South Korean heist movie by Choi Dong-hoon from 2012.
Based on the success of the Oceans Eleven series, The Thieves was realized with a large star line-up in exotic locations and a budget of almost 11 million dollars by South Korean standards. With over 13 million tickets sold, the action comedy is currently the second commercially successful South Korean film of all time.
In the West, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012 .
action
Two professional thieves, the elderly alcoholic Chewing Gum and the young, attractive facade climber Yenicall , steal a rare artifact from the gallery owner of the Leesung Gallery, which the latter had bought from a notorious fender, the Chinese Wei Hong . The theft was planned by their leader Popie and his assistant Zampano. The next day they get a visit from a police investigator who has been on Popie's heels for some time.
Meanwhile, veteran Chinese thief Chen , Jonny and Korean-Chinese Andrew are in the process of robbing a jewelry store in Hong Kong . After the theft, Julie , the daughter of a professional safe-hacker, joins them.
To escape the pressure to be searched for at home, the Koreans join the gang around Chen in Hong Kong. Led by the master thief Macao Park , who was once Popie's boss, they plan a robbery together. The target of the elaborately planned theft is the Tears of the Sun diamond , which is worth over 30 million dollars. This was stolen during an exhibition in Tokyo and is in the possession of Madame Tiffany , Wei Hong's Japanese lover. He is planning a visit to the casino in Macau.
Popie also hires the safe cracker Pepsee , who has just been released on parole. Park doesn't like this, however, as he had a relationship with her a few years ago that has broken up. Park plans to sell the diamond back to Wei Hong, whose face hardly anyone knows, for $ 20 million. It is a dangerous undertaking as Wei Hong has a habit of murdering anyone who gets in his way.
Everyone in the group has a different agenda, and little goes as planned when the heist finally takes place in Macau.
background
Casting for The Thieves began in late 2010, and production company Showbox confirmed the high-profile cast in a press release in March of the following year . At the time, the press was already talking about a “Korean Oceans Eleven”.
Director Choi Dong-hoon was quoted as saying, "These are the very actors who inspired me to write the script from the first line on." Admitting that this combination either made the shoot fail completely or made it one big Would lead to success. The styles and characters of the cast actors are too different.
Choi later confessed that for him the leadership of this group of stars at the beginning of "really scary" ( really scary was). During the filming, however, because of the charisma of everyone involved, he could hardly take his eyes off the control monitor. He never had the feeling that one of the actors really needed guidance.
Kim Hye-soo was very enthusiastic about the script from the start and described Choi as "a genius who works very hard". The script is a product of great effort, brilliant ideas and a calculating mind with an eye for detail. Choi knows exactly what he wants and how to do it. The Thieves have proven this.
When asked about Oceans Eleven , director Choi said he never consciously thought of the Hollywood production during the shooting. Although similar, The Thieves is closer to his previous work, The Big Swindle and Tazza: The High Rollers . Kim Yoon-seok added that the actors in Oceans Eleven work together much more harmoniously than is the case with The Thieves .
The six-month filming in Seoul , Busan , Macau and Hong Kong ended in December 2011.
reception
Box office
With 436,622 tickets sold on launch day, The Thieves posted the second highest number of premieres in the history of South Korean film after The Host in 2006, which hit 449,500 tickets on launch day. A new audience record with over six million visitors was achieved after just eleven days.
As the sixth film ever, The Thieves reached the magic number of 10 million viewers after just 22 days. Although the distributor announced in a press release on October 2, the number of 13,020,393 visitors after just 70 days, the Korean Film Council put the official number with 12,983,334 visitors. This left The Thieves in the list of the most successful South Korean films of all time just behind The Host .
Reviews
The Thieves received mostly positive reviews, scoring 75/100 on Metacritic . The evaluation at Rotten Tomatoes is comparable, although the number of reviews considered is low in both cases.
Robert Cherkowski from Filmstarts.de characterizes The Thieves as good entertainment despite its bloated figure cabinet and its unnecessarily complicated plot. Choi manages to bring together the many characters and storylines in an exciting and action-packed finale.
Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times also attests The Thieves an impressively action-packed second half. However, the film loses much of its initial charm.
Honourings and prices
Buil Film Awards 2012
- Award in the categories
- Best camera for Choi Yeong-hwan
- Best artistic design for Lee Ha-joon
- Jury Award
- Nominated in the categories
- Best Director for Choi Dong-hoon
- Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hae-sook
- Best New Actor for Kim Soo-hyun
Grand Bell Awards 2012
- Award for Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hae-sook
- Nominated for best director Choi Dong-hoon
Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2012
- Best camera for Choi Yeong-hwan
- Awards in the categories
- Best technique for Yoo Sang-sub and Jung Yoon-hyun
- Popularity Award for Kim Soo-hyun
- Audience award for the most popular film
Nominated in the categories
- Best movie
- Best Director for Choi Dong-hoon
- Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hae-sook
- Best New Actor for Kim Soo-hyun
- Best script for Choi Dong-hoon and Lee Ki-cheol
- Best camera for Choi Yeong-hwan
- Best lighting for Kim Seong-kwan
Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards 2012
- Grand Prize / for Kim Yoon-seok
- Top Excellence Award for a role in a film for Kim Hye-soo
- Best movie
Women in Film Korea Awards 2012
- Best producer for Ahn Soo-hyun
KOFRA Film Awards (Korea Film Reporters Association) 2013
- Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hae-sook
Asian Film Awards 2013
- Nominated in the categories
- Best Supporting Actress for Kim Hye-sook
- Best Supporting Actress for Jeon Ji-hyun
- Best camera for Choi Yeong-hwan
- Best cut for Shin Min-kyeong
Baeksang Arts Awards 2013
- Nominated in the categories
- Best Director for Choi Dong-hoon
- Best Supporting Actress for Jeon Ji-hyun
Web links
- The Thieves in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Thieves in the Korean Movie Database (English)
- The Thieves at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- The Thieves at Metacritic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ In Focus: The Thieves (Doduk-deul) Author: Darcy Paquet in Korean Film Biz Zone, July 19, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
- ↑ Thieves steals a march on competition ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Author: Patrick Frater and Stephen Cremin in Film Biz Asia, July 27, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ↑ The Thieves - Review ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Movie Biz Asia. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ↑ Variety Review from Variety Magazine. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
- ↑ Kyoung-seok Ko: Top actors to film Korean version of Ocean's Eleven . In: 10Asia . March 15, 2011. Archived from the original on September 25, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Jessica Kim: Kim Soo-hyun joins cast of high-profile movie . In: 10Asia . March 21, 2011. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ The Thieves The Meaning Behind The Characters' Nicknames Revealed . In: Korea Portal . July 2nd, 2012. Archived from the original on September 4th, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Jin-ho Lee: Director of The Thieves Wanted to Include a Jun Ji Hyun-Kim Hye Soo Kiss Scene . In: enewsWorld . July 18, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Claire Lee: Newsmaker: Director Choi Dong-hoon steals show with The Thieves . In: The Korea Herald . August 21, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Jessica Kim: Kim Yun-seok, Kim Hye-soo The Thieves cranks up . In: 10Asia . December 9, 2011. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ Hye-ji Lee: The Thieves records 2nd biggest opening of all-time in Korea . In: 10Asia . July 26, 2012. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Carla Sunwoo: The Thieves steals attendance record . In: Korea JoongAng Daily . August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ The Thieves Takes Box Office by Storm with Nearly 10 Million Viewers . In: The Chosun Ilbo . August 14, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ The Thieves becomes a top-selling Korean movie . In: The Korea Times . October 2, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ The Thieves review Author: Robert Cherkowski at filmstarts.de. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
- ↑ Review: The Thieves is a slick jewel caper Author: Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
