Cold Eyes Explained
Cold Eyes |
Director: | Cho Ui-seok Kim Byeong-seo |
Producer: | Lee Yu-jin |
Music: | Dalpalan Jang Young-gyu |
Cinematography: | Kim Byeong-seo Yeo Kyung-bo |
Editing: | Shin Min-kyung |
Studio: | Zip Cinema |
Distributor: | Next Entertainment World |
Runtime: | 118 minutes |
Country: | South Korea |
Language: | Korean |
Gross: | [1] |
Native Name: | Child: | yes | Hanja: | 들 | Rr: | Gamsijadeul | Mr: | Kamsijadeul |
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Cold Eyes (; lit. "Stakeout" or "Surveillance") is a 2013 South Korean action thriller film starring Sol Kyung-gu, Jung Woo-sung, and Han Hyo-joo. A remake of the 2007 Hong Kong film Eye in the Sky, Cold Eyes is about detectives from the surveillance team of a special crime unit who work together to track down a highly efficient and dangerous robber and the crew he leads.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
It made its North American premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival,[7] [8] [9] and also screened at the 2013 Busan International Film Festival in the Open Cinema section.[10] [11]
Plot
After a job interview, Ha Yoon-joo, a woman with photographic memory gets hired by a police division where she meets members who to her surprise are largely unarmed and don't wear uniforms, as they specialize in surveillance rather than policing. She joins a team led by a man named Hwang, the division avoids arresting criminals and focuses exclusively on following them around to gather information. The surveillance team immediately runs into trouble when they can't identify a particular ring of robbers due to their masks and their efficiency in robbing the bank. In response, Hwang, Ha, and six other officers spend several weeks wandering around the city streets, tagging after people who match the criminal's physical description. When they finally find him, they put cameras outside his apartment.
Meanwhile, James, the leader of the criminals, wishes to quit his line of work, but his elderly mentor responds by sending a man to kill him, whom he successfully defends against. When James's subordinates confer to discuss the next mission, they are successfully tracked by Hwang's officers who call in a SWAT team to subdue them. Elsewhere, James, murders one of Hwang's officers to escape. Later, after the mentor criticises James and is attacked by his bodyguards, James retaliates by murdering both the mentor and his bodyguards. He then acquires a fake Thai passport and gets ready to leave South Korea.
Hwang and Ha both feel sad at the death of their colleague. As a result, Hwang announces his resignation while Ha takes a leave of absence. However, while Ha is doing her laundry, she suddenly remembers how she had randomly run into James in the past. Namely, on the day of her police interview, James fleetingly walked past her inside a subway car, carrying a grocery store brochure. Ha runs to the grocery store and waits there, managing to catch sight of James again, and urgently notifies Hwang and his officers while staying on James's tail. When James walks into a tunnel, Hwang takes over the pursuit, but James recognizes Hwang (he had seen him in the mirror earlier when he was being followed) and stabs him. Luckily, though, the wound isn't fatal. Ha continues the pursuit into the subway tunnels but this time she is also recognized by James and eventually held hostage. When the SWAT team comes down to the subway tunnel, Ha stabs James in the leg but he escapes and runs deeper into the tunnels.
As the chase goes on, James finds himself trapped between the advancing SWAT team and the mouth of the tunnel, which is being guarded by Hwang, who ran the long way around. As James decides to charge at Hwang, the latter, finding himself at the juncture of an oncoming train, stands his ground to shoot at James, risking a 50/50 chance of the train flattening him. Fortunately, the train takes the other branch and James is shot dead by Hwang.
Encouraged by the success, Hwang withdraws his resignation, and together with Ha, goes on to execute further such missions including the pursuit of an international terrorist.
Cast
Special appearance
Box office
Cold Eyes smashed 2.17 million in the first week of release.[20] After 17 days, it reached 4 million admissions.[21] [22] It reached the 5 million mark on July 27,[23] [24] with 5,506,409 total admissions at the end of its run.
Awards and nominations
- 2013 Buil Film Awards
- Best Actress - Han Hyo-joo
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actress - Jin Kyung
- Nominated - Best New Actor - Lee Jun-ho
- Nominated - Best Screenplay - Cho Ui-seok
- Nominated - Best Cinematography - Kim Byeong-seo
- 2013 Korean Association of Film Critics Awards
- 2013 Grand Bell Awards
- Nominated - Best Costume Design - Jo Sang-gyeong
- 2013 Blue Dragon Film Awards
- Best Actress - Han Hyo-joo[25]
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actor - Jung Woo-sung
- Nominated - Best Cinematography - Kim Byeong-seo, Yeo Kyung-bo
- Nominated - Best Lighting - Kim Seung-gyu
- Nominated - Best Music - Dalparan, Jang Young-gyu
- Nominated - Technical Award - Shin Min-kyung
- 2013 Asia Pacific Film Festival
- Nominated - Best Editing - Shin Min-kyung[26]
- 2014 Asian Film Awards[27]
- 2014 Baeksang Arts Awards
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Box office by Country: Cold Eyes. Box Office Mojo. 2013-07-10.
- Web site: Jung. Han-seok. JOH Ui-seok and KIM Byeong-seo, Directors of COLD EYES: The Art of Watching and Being Watched. Korean Cinema Today. 2013-08-17. 1 August 2013.
- Web site: Ji. Yong-jin. Police Are Hot in Pursuit of a Kingpin in COLD EYES. Korean Film Council. 2013-02-11. 8 February 2013.
- Web site: Kang. Jung-yeon. Movie Cold Eyes Ready To Thrill Audience in 2013 Summer. TenAsia. 2013-05-14. 14 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140328184909/http://www.tenasia.com/movie-cold-eyes-ready-to-thrill-audience-in-2013-summer/. 28 March 2014. dead.
- Web site: Sunwoo. Carla. Cold Eyes is a story of firsts for the cast. https://archive.today/20130615231633/http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2972647. usurped. June 15, 2013. Korea JoongAng Daily. 2013-06-06. 6 June 2013.
- Web site: Lee. Eun-sun. Two Big Things Are Coming: 1,000 Eyes Staring at Him - Cold Eyes. Korean Film Council. 2013-06-14. 14 June 2013.
- Web site: Conran. Pierce. Toronto Looks to COLD EYES: Korean Thriller Gets Gala Invite for TIFF. Korean Film Council. 2013-07-31. 24 July 2013.
- Web site: Cold Eyes Invited to Toronto Int'l Film Fest. The Chosun Ilbo. 2013-07-31. 25 July 2013.
- Web site: Toronto film festival 2013: the full line-up. 23 July 2013. 2013-07-24. The Guardian.
- Web site: Willette. Jeff. Busan International Film Festival 2013. SippinSoko.com. 2013-10-08. 10 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192207/http://www.sippinsoko.com/2013/10/busan-international-film-festival-2013/. 29 October 2013. dead.
- Web site: Arcega. Raymond. Busan International Film Festival 2013. GreenTeaGraffiti. 2013-10-27. 27 October 2013. 2013-10-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192502/http://www.greenteagraffiti.com/biff2013-cold-eyes-2013/. dead.
- Web site: Sunwoo. Carla. Jung Woo-sung preps for bad guy role. https://archive.today/20130126201818/http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2960666. usurped. January 26, 2013. 2012-11-18. Korea JoongAng Daily. 12 October 2012.
- Web site: Kim. Ji-yi. Jung Woo Sung playing as a villain for the first time in his career. StarN News. 2013-05-28. 28 May 2013. 2014-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20140305051938/http://en.starnnews.com/news/index.html?no=199821. dead.
- Web site: Lim. Ju-ri. Jung Woo-sung turns bad. https://archive.today/20130629095140/http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2973741. usurped. June 29, 2013. Korea JoongAng Daily. 2013-06-28. 28 June 2013.
- Web site: Jung Woo-sung Turns His Back on Nice-Guy Image in New Film. The Chosun Ilbo. 2013-06-29. 29 June 2013.
- Web site: Lee . Hye-ji . INTERVIEW: Actor Jung Woo-sung: Confessions of a Top Star . TenAsia . 2013-07-21 . 15 July 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328151610/http://www.tenasia.com/interview-actor-jung-woo-sung-confessions-of-a-top-star/ . 2014-03-28 .
- Web site: Ho. Stewart. 2PM Junho to Make Movie Debut Opposite Jung Woo Sung, Han Hyo Joo in Surveillance. https://archive.today/20130129064120/http://enewsworld.mnet.com/enews/contents.asp?idx=18878. dead. 29 January 2013. 2012-11-18. enewsWorld. CJ E&M. 25 October 2012.
- Web site: Lee. Hye-ji. 2PM Junho Impresses with Big Screen Debut Thriller. TenAsia. 2013-06-19. 19 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140328173809/http://www.tenasia.com/2pm-junho-impresses-with-big-screen-debut-thriller/. 28 March 2014. dead.
- Web site: An. So-hyoun. 2PM's Junho Says He's Really Nervous about His Role in Cold Eyes. enewsWorld. CJ E&M. 2013-06-20. 20 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130624053354/http://mwave.interest.me/enewsworld/article/38927. 24 June 2013. dead.
- Web site: Cold Eyes Smashes 2-Million Mark in First Week. The Chosun Ilbo. 2013-07-13. 10 July 2013.
- Web site: Lee. Claire. Cold Eyes smashes 4 million mark. The Korea Herald. 2013-07-20. 19 July 2013.
- Web site: Cold Eyes Still Sweeping Box Office. The Chosun Ilbo. 2013-07-23. 23 July 2013.
- Web site: Cold Eyes Hits 5-Million Mark in Cinema Attendance. The Chosun Ilbo. 2013-07-31. 29 July 2013.
- Web site: Kang . Jung-yeon . Han Hyo-joo Celebrates Cold Eyes Records . TenAsia . 2013-07-31 . 30 July 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328195904/http://www.tenasia.com/han-hyo-joo-celebrates-cold-eyes-records/ . 2014-03-28 .
- Web site: Netizens split on Han Hyo Joo's Best Leading Actress win at Blue Dragon Film Awards. Korea Star Daily via Yahoo!. 2014-01-18. 25 November 2013.
- Web site: Conran. Pierce. 7 Nominations for SNOWPIERCER at Asia Pacific Film Festival. Korean Film Council. 2014-01-18. 3 December 2013.
- Web site: Tae. Sang-joon. 5 Films including SNOWPIERCER nominated for the AFAs. Korean Film Council. 2014-02-20. 14 February 2014.
- Web site: Chung. Joo-won. Song Gang-ho, Jun Ji-hyun get top nods at Baeksang Awards. The Korea Herald. 2014-05-28. 27 May 2014.