Assassination

"The country falls. The operation begins."

2015 2h 20m KO

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 291

ActionThrillerDramaHistory

Synopsis

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In Japanese-occupied Korea, three freedom fighters are assigned a mission to assassinate a genocidal military leader and his top collaborator. But the plan goes completely awry amidst double-crossings, counter-assassinations, and a shocking revelation about one of the assassins' past.

“The country falls. The operation begins.”

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Cast

Gianna Jun
Ahn Ok-yun
Ha Jung-woo
Hawaii Pistol
Lee Jung-jae
Yeom Seok-jin
Oh Dal-su
Pomade
Cho Jin-woong
Big Gun / Chu Sang-ok
Lee Kyung-young
Kang In-gook
Choi Deok-moon
Hwang Deok-sam
Kim Eui-sung
Butler

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Writers: Choi Dong-hoon, Lee Ki-cheol
Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, English, French, Japanese
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 6 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, English, French, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Choi Dong-hoon, shot by Kim Woo-hyung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jang Young-gyu. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Shin Min-kyung shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gianna Jun and Ha Jung-woo and Lee Jung-jae carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The country falls. The operation begins.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt3501416 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Choi Dong-hoon directs. Kim Woo-hyung behind the camera. Jang Young-gyu scores. Shin Min-kyung cuts. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, English, French, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 11 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 6 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, English, French, Japanese.
3Directed by Choi Dong-hoon, shot by Kim Woo-hyung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jang Young-gyu. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Shin Min-kyung shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Gianna Jun and Ha Jung-woo and Lee Jung-jae carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The country falls. The operation begins.".
8IMDB entry: tt3501416 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Kim Woo-hyung
Original score: Jang Young-gyu
Editing: Shin Min-kyung
Production design: Ryu Seong-hie
Costume design: Son Na-ri
Makeup / hair: Choi Hye-im
Runtime: 140 min · 2h 20m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $96,119,773
Original language: KO
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Assassination (2015)

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Choi Dong-hoon

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-02-04
★ 8/10
The fight within them is to free the nation from a foreign power. I remember that a few years ago I loved 'Jeon Woo-Chi' from this same director. It was so awesome, the mix between the modern world and ancient myth with the usual Korean style presentation, a little different from other similar western films due to the cultural difference. After that, this the second movie of his I am watching and I had two opposite thoughts in the two halves of the movie. Initially, I felt I chose a wrong movie. One of the reason was, I could not get the film characters right due to complicated introductions. Too many main characters and that's a too much to recognise if you're not a Korean or not familiar with the Korean faces/actors. Somewhat I was confused, at least in the first quarter. In the second half, especially after the story moved to Korean, I get used to it and afterwards it was very smooth. The other reason was obviously the length of the movie. Only because of the puzzled opening order. Later the story development was so good, I began to feel comfortable with the narration and after that I did not notice the runtime at all. I have no source to confirm whether it was based on the real or simply a cinematic fiction, but it was very interesting as it progress. So don't force yourself to watch the movie, but it you do, then give it a time in the beginning and be focused, later definitely you will be in a position to get through as easily as I did. "Damn, we could all die tomorrow. Let's dance." Actually, it all began in the year 1911, and moved to 20 years later during the Japan's occupation of Korea. The resistance freedom fighters plan a series of assassination of the Japanese leaders in the nation's different regions. One such man was a powerful native business tycoon. When everything goes wrong, the story begins to take a turn, complicates further by revealing the old secret. How much it affects and to whom, followed by the final battle sequence. Obviously everyone interesting in this film for Jeon Ji-Hyun's presence. Of course, as usual she was very impressive, but her so-star, Ha Jung-Woo with his weird screen name 'Hawaii Pistol' was also equally good. When I first heard Hawaii Pistol is coming, I thought it was the arms supply from Hawaii. Anyway, it was a grand intro, after his entry the movie was set to explore the rest of the story in a style. The other actors like his hilarious partner and the main villain set the tone for the movie. Certainly it is a movie to pick if you want an historic subject other than your regular Korean themes. Beautifully written for the screen, except like I said the editing was confusing for the lack of proper inception. Don't think it's simply about the brave freedom fighters; betrayal, revenge, family, third person caught in, like that it had many stuffs. It is also very rare to see a woman fighter among them. All the action scenes were really well made, because that's the title isn't. The terrific settings of the 30s as well. I can't say about it is a must see or not, but surely a fine historic movie that I am pleased with. 8/10

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