Overview of Hunt
‘Hunt’ is a 2022 South Korean action thriller directed by the famous actor of South Korea, Lee Jung-jae. It is his debut movie as a director. Furthermore, in the movie, Lee Jung-jae does not restrict himself as the director. He co-produced the film and acted along with Jung Woo-sung. ‘Hunt’ is about a North Korean agent’s attempt to assassinate the South Korean president to overthrow his military dictatorship.
Profile
- Name: Hunt
- Genre: Drama, Action, Spy Thriller
- Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Jung Woo-sung, Jeon Hye-jin, Heo Sung-tae, Go Youn-jung
- Directed by: Lee Jung-jae
- Produced by: Lee Jung-jae, Han Jae-duk
- Production Companies: Artist Studio, Sanai Pictures
- Screenplay by: Lee Jung-jae, Jo Seung-hee
- Music by: Jo Yeong-wook
- Cinematography: Lee Mo-gae
- Edited by: Kim Sang-Bum
- Release dates: 19 May 2022 in Cannes, 10 August 2022 in South Korea
- Running time: 131 minutes
- Distributed by: Megabox JoongAng Plus M
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Cast
- Lee Jung-jae as Park Pyong-ho
- Jung Woo-sung as Kim Jung-do
- Jung Man-sik as Agent Yang
- Heo Sung-tae as Jang Cheol-seong
- Go Youn-jung as Jo Yoo-jeong
- Kim Jong-soo as Director Ahn
- Jeon Hye-jin as Bang Joo-kyung
- Jo Woo-jin as Tokyo branch agent 2
- Kang Kyung-hun as Kim Jeong-do’s wife
- Kim Nam-gil as Tokyo branch agent 3
- Park Sung-woong as Tokyo branch agent 1
- Jo Woo-jin as Tokyo branch agent 2
- Ju Ji-hoon as Tokyo branch agent 4
- Lee Sung-min as Cho Won-sik
- Hwang Jung-min as Lieutenant Lee
- Yoo Jae-myung as CEO Choi
- Hwang Jung-min as Lieutenant Lee
Synopsis
In the 1980s, South Korea was under the strict control of military dictatorship. Park Pyong-ho, the Foreign Unit Chief, and Kim Jung-do, the Domestic Unit Chief, are guarding South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan in Washington, D.C. The Control Intelligence Agency reports the presence of a mole who tries to assassinate the respected president. However, Kim Jung-do and Park Pyong-ho lose the trust that they have in each other when an assassination attempt happens.
After the unpredicted attack, the CIA informed Jung-do and Pyong-ho about the presence of a mole, an assassin sent by North Korea to kill the South Korean President. Therefore, the mission of Jung-do and Pyong-ho is to protect the president from the North Korean Donglim and to bring him out of his hideout. Initially, the duo suspects a university professor as the Donglim.
To catch the Donglim, the duo searches an asylum, suspecting it of being his hideout. However, the mission fails tragically, and the physician whom they catch dies. In his last confession, the physician discloses that the assassin is still alive and safe. Also, the physician says that the spy has already passed the news of the South Korean military infiltration to enemies. Just like the mission, the infiltration ends tragically, causing the deaths of everyone who participates in it.
The continued failures in the joined tasks make the duo split and conduct the investigation in their own ways. Jung-do and Pyong-ho suspect each other’s loyalty to their homeland. Jung-do is doubtful about Pyong-ho’s adopted daughter. He suspects her of being a North Korean agent who spies on the official news and leaks it to his enemies. He forcefully questions her.
Out of suspicion, Jung-do and Pyong-ho dig deep into each other’s backgrounds, revealing the actual truth about them. Both Jung-do and Pyong-ho possess grudges against the president and secretly work to assassinate him. Therefore, it is revealed that Jung-do was the one who killed the suspect in the beginning. Later, Pyong-ho will be disclosed as the Donglim who was assigned to kill the Korean President. It was Pyong-ho who killed his assistant to escape from the unwanted doubts and scandals.
However, Pyong-ho learns about the change of plans made due to the continuous failure to assassinate the president. The North decided to invade South Korea. Therefore, according to the new plan, Pyong-ho will be assassinated to prevent the truth from leaking. Jung-do, this time saves Pyong-ho from getting killed. Pyong-ho decides to work with Jung-do to assassinate the president.
On the day that Jung-do and the North Korean snipers decided to execute their plan, Pyong-ho tried to prevent the assassination. Overcoming Pyong-ho’s defence, an agent from the North bombs the place to kill the president. In the explosion, Jung-do dies, and the president escapes.
To give a tribute to his comrade’s family, Pyong-ho visits Jung-do’s family and later goes to meet his adopted daughter. He helps her flee to America, and in the end, he gets killed by an agent from North Korea.
Theme
‘Hunt’ is a South Korean movie based on historical events. Lee Jung-jae directed the action thriller movie by collaborating on important movements and incidents that happened in South Korea. The film is loaded with fight scenes and plot twists. The main theme of the movie is centred on the mindset of the main leads. They suspect each other as spies who work for North Korea.
AwardsÂ
- Baeksang Arts Awards 2023
Technical Award – Lee Mo-gae - Korea Image Awards 2023
Korea Image Stepping Stone Award – Lee Jung-Jae - Blue Dragon Film Awards 2022
Best New Director – Lee Jung-jae
Best Cinematography and Lighting – Lee Mo-gae, Lee Sung-hwan
Best Editing – Kim Sang-beom - Buil Film Awards 2022
Best New Director – Lee Jung-jae - 23rd Busan Film Critics Association Awards 2022
Technical Award – Hunt
6th Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival Ciudad de La Laguna, Isla Calavera 2022
Best Actor – Lee Jung-Jae and Jung Woo-sung - Grand Bell Awards 2022
Best Lighting – Lee Seong-hwan - 42nd Golden Cinematography Awards 2022
Editing Award –Â Hunt - Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 2022
Best New Director – Lee Jung-jae
Best Actor – Jung Woo-sung
Best Supporting Actress – Jeon Hye-jin
Korean Association of Film 10 selections of Kim Hyun-seung – Hunt
Best Supporting Actor – Jo Woo-jin - Korean Film Producers Association Award 2022
Best director – Lee Jung-jae
Filmmaking, Arts, and Editing Awards – Lee Mo-gae, Park Il-hyun and Kim Sang-beum - Hawaii Film Critics Society Awards 2022
Best New Filmmaker – Lee Jung-Jae - London East Asia Film Festival 2022
Honorary Award – Lee Jung-Jae
Interesting Facts about Hunt
- ‘Hunt’ is inspired from three events that happened in the history of South Korea in 1980s like the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement (1980), the Aung San terrorist attack (1983) and the defection of North Korean pilot Lee Woong-pyung (1983).
- ‘Hunt’ is the debut movie of Lee Jung-jae as a director.
- Lee Jung-jae planned to start the shooting of the movie in 2017 with the name ‘Namsan’ but later cancelled his plan and waited for 4 years.
FAQs
- Who is the director of ‘Hunt’?
Lee Jung-jae is the director of ‘Hunt’. - When was the movie ‘Hunt’ released?
‘Hunt’ was released on 10 August 2022 in South Korea.
- What is the Instagram ID of Lee Jung-jae?
@from_jjlee.
