''Collectors'' () is a 2020 South Korean heist

caper story The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes (especially thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader. The actions of police or ...

film directed by Park Jung-bae and produced by

Hwang Dong-hyuk Hwang Dong-hyuk (, Hanja: 黃東赫; born May 26, 1971) is a South Korean film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the 2011 crime drama film '' Silenced'', and for creating the 2021 Netflix survival drama series ' ...

. The film starring

Lee Je-hoon Lee Je-hoon (born July 4, 1984) is a South Korean actor. He started his career in indie films, then went on to appear in commercial films like '' The Front Line'' (2011), ''Architecture 101'' (2012) and '' My Paparotti'' (2013), and television ...

, Jo Woo-jin,

Shin Hye-sun Shin Hye-sun (born 31 August 1989) is a South Korean actress. She made her debut in the television series ''School 2013''. In 2017, Shin played her first leading role and became well known in the weekend drama, ''My Golden Life'', which garnere ...

and

Im Won-hee Im Won-hee (born October 11, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Im was an alumnus of the legendary Daehangno, Daehak-ro theater troupe ''Mokhwa'' (), starring in many of Jang Jin's stage plays. He made his film debut in Jang's black comedy ''The Happ ...

, tells the caper story of a grave robbery taking place in the heart of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. The film released on November 4, 2020, opened at top of local box office, as it sold about 80,000 tickets and grossed 701.6 million KRW (estimated US$626,916) on the opening day. As of January 2, 2021, ''Collectors'' is at 13th place, with gross of US$12.43 million and 1.52 million admissions, among all the films released in South Korea in the year 2020.

Synopsis

Kang Dong-goo (

) is a genius robber with a unique touch and intuition. He works with antiquated burial place mural expert, Dr. Jones ( Jo Woo-jin) and legendary shoveling master, Sapdari. There is curator Yoon (

), an antiques expert, she offers an appealing but daring heist idea to Kang Dong-goo.

Cast

as Kang Dong-goo, a genius robber with a unique touch and intuition. * Jo Woo-jin as Dr. Jones, an expert in tomb mural robbery. *

as Yoon Se-hee, a curator. *

as Shovel Leg, named after his legendary shoveling skills. * Song Young-chang as Sang-gil *

Joo Jin-mo Joo Jin-mo (born Park Jin-tae on 26 September 1974), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films '' Happy End'' (1999) in which he won Grand Bell Awards for Best Supporting Actor, ''200 Pounds Beauty'' (2006), ...

as Man-gi *

Lee Sung-wook Lee Sung-wook (, born October 3, 1979) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his roles in dramas such as ''Duel'' (2017)'', Misty'' (2018)'','' '' 365: Repeat the Year'' (2020), and ''Forecasting Love and Weather ''Forecasting Love and ...

as Gwang-chul *

Park Se-wan Park Se-wan (born September 24, 1994) is a South Korean actress. Career In 2016, Park made her television acting debut in KBS2's short drama special '' The Red Teacher''. She started gaining more attention in 2017 with her supporting roles in ...

as Hye-ri * Park Jin-woo as Chief Oh

Production

In March 2019,

was confirmed to play the protagonist in the film. In May 2019,

's appearance was confirmed in the film.

Release

''Collectors'' was invited at

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

to screen the film. The three-week festivals was held from August 5 to 25, 2021 in Montreal. The film was screened in Canadian Premiere section on August 17, 2021.

Reception

Box office

The film released on November 4, 2020, opened at top of local box office, as it sold about 80,000 tickets and grossed 701.6 million (around US$626,916). It remained no.1 film on Korean box office for consecutive three weeks from November 8 to November 22, 2020. According to Korean Film Council data, it is at 11th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2020, with gross of US$12.15 million and 1.54 million admissions, as of January 3, 2021.

Critical response

Going by Korean

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

Movie Database'', the film holds an approval rating of 8.48 from the audience.

References

External links

* * * * {{Naver title, 193194 2020 films CJ Entertainment films 2020s Korean-language films South Korean crime comedy films South Korean heist films Films set in Seoul Films set in Yanbian 2020 comedy films