The Chaser (추격자)

With his first full-length feature, Na Hong-jin immediately claimed his place among such brilliant Korean genre-bending filmmakers as Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook. The entire film is a long, virtuosic duel between a pimp who sees his girl disappear one by one and the serial killer he is desperately trying to locate. His quest is also a race against time. The basic principle of the narrative is to cut back and forth between the static and terrifying huis clos of the killer and the urban environment of the chaser who is in constant motion. Downright remarkable is what intense and nail-biting spectacle the director draws from this classic scheme. The brutal efficiency of the tough and foul-mouthed protagonist contrasts sharply with the official police, composed of officers as childish as they are incompetent.

This film has been preserved by Cinematek.