Howling (Korean: 하울링; RR: Haulling; MR: Haŏulring) is a 2012 South Korean action thriller film written and directed by Yoo Ha based on the 1996 novel The Hunter (凍える牙 lit. "Freezing Fang") by Japanese writer Asa Nonami.[2] The plot follows two detectives, a veteran male cop (Song Kang-ho) and female rookie (Lee Na-young), who are appointed to investigate serial murders.
| Howling | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 하울링 |
| Revised Romanization | Haulling |
| McCune–Reischauer | Haŏulring |
| Directed by | Yoo Ha |
| Written by | Yoo Ha |
| Based on | The Hunter by Asa Nonami |
| Produced by | Lee Tae-hun |
| Starring | Song Kang-ho Lee Na-young |
| Cinematography | Gong Pyeong-jae |
| Edited by | Park Gok-ji |
| Music by | Kim Jun-seok |
Production companies | Opus Pictures Film Poeta |
| Distributed by | CJ Entertainment United Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Language | Korean |
| Budget | ₩7.0 billion |
| Box office | ₩11,765,039,500 $10,354,039[1] |
Plot
editMapo district, Seoul. Middle-aged police detective Jo Sang-gil (Song Kang-ho), a single father with a young son and daughter, is assigned the seemingly straightforward case of a man, Oh Gyeong-il, who set fire to himself inside a car. Chafing at his lack of promotion after so long on the police force, but under pressure from his boss-cum-friend (Shin Jung-geun), he also grudgingly agrees to work with rookie detective Cha Eun-young (Lee Na-young), a 30-year-old divorcee who has just been transferred from motorcycle patrol duty. The dead man, who had drugs in his system, has a large dog-bite on his thigh but no fingerprints. The police discover the immolation was not suicide but was triggered by a timer in the victim's trouser belt. Sang-gil traces the sex club the victim had visited but bawls out Eun-young when she makes an amateurish error during a fight. Against protocol, Sang-gil omits to file reports on the progress of the case, as he wants to earn all the kudos himself and thereby a promotion. His boss finds out, just as a second victim, Nam Sang-hun, is found bitten to death by a large dog or wolf. After talking to dog-trainers, the police learn the man they need to see is Min Tae-shik, a retired police dog trainer who lives with his drug addict daughter; during a raid on his house, Min escapes and a wolf-dog subsequently kills a woman in the backstreets. Eun-young starts questioning police-dog trainers, as well as investigating those missing or dead, and comes up with the name of Kang Myung-ho, who supposedly committed suicide a while ago. She sets off to investigate on her own.[3][4][5][6]
After 4 people fell victim to the dog, Eun-young investigate Tae-shik's home. From the house she discover he has been training his dog, Jil-Po, to kill 6 targets, including a police named Bae. She found Jung-ah in a hospital and gather more information where found that Jung-ah was used as prostitute by the 5 victims. We then switch to a corrupt cop and Min, a businessman who paid him to kill Oh Gyeong-il before. Their deal went awry and the businessman kill him, make it look like a suicide and left a fake last will. Police Department freeze the case after their death but Eun-young still bothered by the unknown 6th man.
Police Department later declare that they will start a hunt to kill the dog. Eun-young and Sang-gil use this information to then convince Young-jin to tell them who is the final target, which is revealed to be a minister. Noticing that all 5 of his henchmen are dead, the minister remember that Jung-ah used to tell him about his dad who was a dog trainer. He then plot his escape using boat. Eun-young later demoted to patrol police by their chief.
The police department then set up an ambush using Jung-ah's cloth in their old house. The ambush fail and Eun-young follow Jil-Pong to an old house where the minister prepare to escape. During the ensuing fight Sang-gil shoot and kill Jil-Pong while he bites the minister, which he later explain that he missed. The movie end with Sang-gil rewarded for the case and Eun-young help to rehabilitate Jung-ah.
Cast
edit- Song Kang-ho ... Detective Jo Sang-gil[7][8]
- Lee Na-young ... Detective Cha Eun-young[9][10][11][12]
- Shin Jung-geun as Chief Detective Seo
- Lee Sung-min as Detective Young-cheol
- Im Hyeon-seong as Detective
- Jeong Jin as Detective
- Jo Young-jin as Jung-ah's father
- Nam Bo-ra as Jung-ah
- Kwon Tae-won as Choi, the racketeer
- Lee Tae-ri as Sang-gil's son - (credit as Lee Min-ho)
- Jung In-gi as Coroner
- Jang In-ho
- Kim Gyeong-ryong
- Kim Dong-yoon as Gangster 1
- Kim Young-hoon as Cha Eun-young's ex-husband
References
edit- ^ "Box office by Country: Howling". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
- ^ Yoon, Ina (23 February 2015). "How Can Foreign Stories be Localized?". Korean Film Biz Zone.
- ^ Elley, Derek (2 March 2012). "Howling". Film Business Asia.
- ^ Shim, Sun-ah (9 February 2012). "Howling resonates with fringe emotions". Yonhap.
- ^ Lee, Jin-ho (13 February 2012). "Howling Held Up By Song Kang Ho and Lee Na Young". enewsWorld.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Howling". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ^ Lee, Hyo-won (12 January 2012). "Song reprises detective role in Howling". The Korea Times.
- ^ Lee, Jin-ho (13 February 2012). "Song Kang Ho Says He Won't be Embarrassed of Howling". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013.
- ^ "Lee Na-young tracking serial killers?". Korea JoongAng Daily. 2 January 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Lee, Claire (8 February 2012). "Howling: Portrait of the minority". The Korea Herald.
- ^ "Lee Na-young Faces Tough Challenge on New Movie". The Chosun Ilbo. 11 February 2012.
- ^ Sunwoo, Carla (22 February 2012). "Lee Na-young unfazed by questions about age, marriage prospects". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)