New World (2013 film)

New World (Korean: 신세계; RR: Sinsegye) is a 2013 South Korean crime drama film written and directed by Park Hoon-jung.[2][3][4][5][6] Starring Choi Min-sik, Hwang Jung-min, Song Ji-Hyo and Lee Jung-jae, the film is a melodrama revolving around an undercover cop who finds it difficult to play both a cop and a goon.[7][8][9][10][11] New World is the first entry in a planned trilogy.[12]

New World
Promotional poster for New World
Hangul신세계
Hanja新世界
Revised RomanizationSinsegye
McCune–ReischauerSinsekye
Directed byPark Hoon-jung
Produced byHan Jae-duk
Kim Hyun-woo
Written byPark Hoon-jung
StarringLee Jung-jae
Choi Min-sik
Hwang Jung-min
Park Sung-woong
Song Ji-hyo
Music byJo Yeong-wook
CinematographyChung Chung-hoon
Yu Eok
Edited byMoon Se-kyung
Distributed byNext Entertainment World
Release date
  • 21 February 2013 (2013-02-21)
Running time
134 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean, Mandarin
Budget₩7.3 million
Box officeUS$31.7 million[1]

Plot

Lee Ja-Sung (Lee Jung-jae) is an undercover police officer who has been working in Goldmoon International, South Korea's largest corporate crime syndicate. During his 8 years, he is constantly at risk of discovery. Chief Kang (Choi Min-sik) promises to reassign Ja-Sung to an overseas position in the police force, but he continually delays his promise. When Ja-Sung threatens to quit the police force, Chief Kang threatens to leak his true identity to the crime syndicate, which would ensure his painful death.

The chairman of Goldmoon dies in an accident, and two men fight to see him. Jung Chung is backed by the Chinese-descended Northmoon clan. Lee Joong-gu is backed by the Jaebum faction.

Chief Kang sets Jung and Joong-gu against each other in hopes that they will defeat each other and clear the path for Jang Su-Ki to become the new chairman. Su-ki is nominally the vice president of the company, but he has no real power. Chief Kang hopes that the Goldmoon company will be weak enough to defeat if led by the weak Su-ki. Chief Kang blackmails Jung and convinces him to leak evidence about Joong-gu in exchange for a pardon for his own crimes. After he arrests Joong-gu, he informs Joong-gu that Jung betrayed him. Enraged, Joong-gu sends his men to assassinate Jung. Joong-gu's men ambush Jung and fatally wound him. Before his death, Jung tells Ja-Sung to decide his loyalty; Jung has discovered that Ja-Sung is an undercover cop, but he pretends not to know because of their friendship.

Shattered by Jung's death and terrified of what Joong-gu will do to him once he is released from prison, Ja-Sung begs Chief Kang to reassign him and let him disappear. When Joong-gu's men break into Ja-Sung's house, Ja-Sung's wife suffers a miscarriage from shock. Chief Kang refuses to keep his promise and destroys Ja-Sung's police profile to force him to continue to work for Goldmoon.

Betrayed by Chief Kang, Ja-Sung decides to become a full criminal. He takes control of Jung's faction and secures the loyalty of Su-ki's men. He murders Su-ki, who is set to become the chairman because of Chief Kang. He murders Chief Kang so that no record will remain of his old identity. He murders Joong-gu, his only possible rival. He becomes the new chairman of Goldmoon.

Cast
  • Lee Jung-jae – Lee Ja-sung
  • Choi Min-sik – Section chief Kang Hyung-cheol[13]
  • Hwang Jung-min – Jung Chung
  • Park Sung-woong – Lee Joong-gu
  • Song Ji-hyo – Shin Woo
  • Kim Yoon-seong – Oh Seok-mu
  • Na Kwang-hoon – Yang Moon-seok
  • Park Seo-yeon – Han Joo-kyung
  • Choi Il-hwa – Vice Chairman Jang Su-ki
  • Joo Jin-mo – Police Director Ko
  • Jang Gwang – Director Yang
  • Kwon Tae-won – Director Park
  • Kim Hong-pa – Director Kim
  • Kim Byung-ok – Yanbian hobo
  • Woo Dong-gi – Yanbian hobo
  • Park In-soo – Yanbian hobo
  • Jung Young-gi – Yanbian hobo
  • Park Sang-gyu – policeman
  • Ryu Sung-hyun – executive
  • Jung Gi-seop – executive
  • Lee Woo-jin – executive
  • Sung Nak-kyung – executive
  • Jung Mi-sung – detective
  • Ahn Su-ho – Choi
  • Son Byung-hee – taxi driver
  • Han Jae-duk – gang boss
  • Lee Geung-young – Chairman Seok Dong-chool (cameo)
  • Ryoo Seung-bum – Constable Kang Cheol-hwa (cameo)
  • Ma Dong-seok – Section chief Cho Hyung-joo (cameo)

Critical reception

The New York Times called the film "both less bloody and more thoughtful than most of its genre, the shifting-alliances plot becoming more engrossing as it progresses."[14]

Los Angeles Times wrote that "writer-director Park Hoon-jung tells this twisty story of internecine warfare within a Korean corporate crime syndicate with patience, elegance and no small amount of bloodshed."[15]

Salon said that "the rewards come from a satisfying plot, distinctive characters and a series of memorable showpieces, and Park handles all three demands well," and "no one in American movies has made a crime opera this good in years."[16]

Film Business Asia praised it as "the best played and most gripping Korean gangster movie since Yoo Ha's A Dirty Carnival. [...] not only showcases three of South Korea's best actors at the top of their game but also manages to sustain its 2 and a half-hour running time on sheer character drama rather than action or violence."[17]

The film also received many negative reviews as well. David Noh from Film Journal wrote "There's nothing wrong with reworking films like Election and Infernal Affairs. Scorsese won an Oscar for The Departed, his version of the latter. Sadly, Park doesn't bring anything new to the genre, apart from a lot more crane shots and one too many stoic grimaces."[18]

Linda Barnard from Thestar.com gave it 2 stars out of 4, writing "South Korean gangster film New World tries to expand the genre with nods to The Godfather but can’t escape the over-the-top acting, expansive violence and overdone story typical of Seoul-made crime dramas."[19]

Slant Magazine also gave it a negative review, stating "Bestowed with a somewhat novel twist, Park Hoon-jung’s New World employs the good-guy/bad-guy power dynamic of the typical cop-gangster flick and treats it as the primary source of the story’s intrigue. But the mole-imbedded gang war at the heart of this film plays out less like an organic round of Go between cops and criminals than the elaborate scheme of one character operating like a sadistic Creator and wreaking havoc in the lives of his ants."[20]

Box office

The film scored admissions of 4.67 million,[21][22][23] with a total gross of ₩34,831,698,405 (or US$31,212,801).[1]

Remake

After competing with DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros., Sony Pictures picked up the remake rights, reportedly in the mid six-figure range. The production company Vertigo Entertainment will handle the project with producers Roy Lee and Dan Lin, Jon Silk and John Powers Middleton as executive producers, and Will Fetters as screenwriter.[23][24][25] The 2018 Tamil movie Chekka Chivantha Vaanam was reported to be the "Indianized version" of this movie owing to its similarity in plot, characterization and the narrative.[26]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipients Result Ref.
2013 Beaune International Thriller Film Festival Jury Prize (Second Place) New World Won
49th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actor Hwang Jung-min Nominated [27][28]
Best Supporting Actor Park Sung-woong Nominated
Best New Director Park Hoon-jung Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
22nd Buil Film Awards Best Actor Hwang Jung-min Won
Best Supporting Actor Park Sung-woong Nominated
Best New Director Park Hoon-jung Nominated
50th Grand Bell Awards Best Director Nominated
Best Actor Hwang Jung-min Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Park Sung-woong Nominated
Best Screenplay Park Hoon-jung Nominated
Best Lighting Bae Il-hyuk Nominated
Best Music Jo Yeong-wook Won
Best Art Direction Cho Hwa-sung Nominated
34th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Film New World Nominated
Best Director Park Hoon-jung Nominated
Best Actor Hwang Jung-min Won
Best Supporting Actor Park Sung-woong Nominated
Best Cinematography Chung Chung-hoon, Yu Eok Nominated
Best Lighting Bae Il-hyuk Nominated
Best Art Direction Cho Hwa-sung Nominated
46th Sitges Film Festival Best Feature Film (Focus Asia Award) New World Won [29]
2014 9th Max Movie Awards Best Actor Hwang Jung-min Nominated
19th Chunsa Film Art Awards Nominated

References
  1. "Shin-sae-gye (New World) (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  2. Lee, Eun-sun (26 February 2013). "PARK Hoon-jung of NEW WORLD "A Film About Gangsters in Politicians' Suits"". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  3. Baek, Jong-hyun (18 January 2013). "NEW WORLD Witnesses the Growth of Intense Desire". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  4. Lee, Rachel (21 January 2013). "3 actors to show off talent in Sinsegae". The Korea Times. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  5. Park, Eun-jee (8 February 2013). "Three macho guys find a balance in Park Hoon-jung's latest thriller". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  6. Lee, Claire (11 February 2013). "New World a well-made noir with superb acting". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  7. Paquet, Darcy (8 March 2013). "In Focus: New World". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  8. Kim, Hyun-min (7 January 2013). "NEW WORLD Is a New Kind of Korean Crime Drama". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  9. Suk, Monica (22 June 2012). "A-list Korean actors gears up to bring new film noir action pic". 10Asia. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  10. Son, Jin-ah (20 September 2012). "'New World' cranked up". StarN News. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  11. Lee, Hye-ji (21 September 2012). "Top Film Stars Wrap Up Shooting New Noir Action Pic". 10Asia. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  12. "[스크랩] 영화 `신세계` 3부작이래! (+추가)". Archived from the original on 8 April 2014.
  13. Lee, Mi-ji (18 January 2013). "The New World Lee Jung Jae talks about difficulties he had to overcome". StarN News. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  14. Catsoulis, Jeannette (21 March 2013). "In South Korea, Gangsters in Good Suits". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  15. Goldstein, Gary (21 March 2013). "Review: New World a tense crime-syndicate showdown". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  16. O'Hehir, Andrew (21 March 2013). "Pick of the week: A Korean mob thriller that could teach Hollywood a thing or two". Salon. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  17. Elley, Derek (6 June 2013). "New World". Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  18. Film Review: New World
  19. South Korean gangster movie New World falls flat: review
  20. New World Review
  21. "Ticket sales for New World pass 4 mln mark". Yonhap. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  22. An, So-hyoun (19 March 2013). "The New World Hits 4 Million". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  23. Frater, Patrick (12 April 2013). "New World sold for US remake". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  24. Conran, Pierce (12 April 2013). "New NEW WORLD on the Way from Sony". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  25. Lee, Claire (15 April 2013). "Hollywood buys rights to remake New World". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  26. https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/mani-is-the-matter-on-chekka-chivantha-vaanam/article25130855.ece/amp/
  27. Conran, Pierce (9 April 2013). "49th PaekSang Arts Awards Nominations Revealed". Korean Film Council. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  28. Hicap, Jonathan M. (5 April 2013). "49th Baeksang Arts Awards nominees revealed". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  29. "Sitges Film Festival 2013 Awards". Sitges Film Festival.
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