''The City of Violence'' (; lit. "Partner" or "Pal") is a 2006 South Korean

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

co-written and directed by

Ryoo Seung-wan Ryoo Seung-wan (born December 15, 1973) is a South Korean film director. Early life Ryoo Seung-wan was born in 1973 in Onyang, a small town in South Chungcheong Province. With the choice of domestic films mostly limited to propaganda and hostes ...

, who stars in the film opposite

action director Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet pr ...

and longtime collaborator

Jung Doo-hong Jung Doo-hong (born December 14, 1966) is a South Korean action director, martial arts choreographer, stunt coordinator, and actor. Early life Jung Doo-hong was born in 1966 in Chilsan-ri, Imcheon-myeon, Buyeo County, South Chungcheong Provin ...

. The story re-unites former childhood friends for their friend's funeral, which prompts two of them to find the killer.

Plot

Wang-jae, an ex-gangster, chases a gang of punks into an alley where he is fatally stabbed to death. His four childhood friends reunite in nearly 20 years at Wang-jae's funeral. Up to then, each person has gone their own way: Tae-su became a

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 ...

police detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

. Pil-ho has taken over his brother-in-law Wang-jae's business. Seok-hwan, who works as a

debt collector Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The de ...

while his older brother Dong-hwan struggles as a

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

professor. After the funeral, Tae-su decides to investigate the murder within a week before he would return to his job in Seoul. Meanwhile, Seok-hwan decides to find and kill Wang-jae's murderers. While investigating, Tae-su is attacked by youth gangs, who use an array of weapons including

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

s, hip hop,

bikes A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

hockey stick A hockey stick is a piece of sports equipment used by the players in all the forms of hockey to move the ball or puck (as appropriate to the type of hockey) either to push, pull, hit, strike, flick, steer, launch or stop the ball/ puck during pla ...

s, and

yo-yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

's. Tae-su barely escapes with his life after Seok-hwan's unexpected arrival. They decide to work together. After hunting the gangs, they discover Wang-jae's death isn't a random mindless attack. It was a planned murder. The revelation leads them to Seok-hwan's own brother, who confesses a secret. It's Pil-ho who was behind the plan, which was hatched after Wang-jae disapproved Pil-ho's plans to turn their city into a tourist district. After strangers tried to kill him as part of tying up Pil-ho's loose ends, Wang-jae's young murderer agrees to testify against Pil-ho. A killer douses the young murderer in

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

and sets him on fire. When Tae-su realizes there's no legal way to take Pil-ho down, he confronts Pil-ho, but he ends up badly beaten. Meanwhile, Seok-hwan, Dong-hwan and their mother are on their way to a restaurant when a truck smashes into their car. After Dong-hwan and his mother's funeral, Seok-hwan and Wang-jae's widow leave the funeral house and sees Tae-su waiting outside. Tae-su persuades Wang-jae's widow into revealing information on her brother Pil-ho's whereabouts. No longer bound by law, Tae-su and Seok-hwan storm Pil-ho's fortress where they fight their way through swarms of armed cooks and bodyguards until the banquet room. They witness Pil-ho killing a Seoul president, which prompts all guests to leave just Tae-su, Seok-hwan, Pil-ho and his four elite guards alone in the room. The elite guards immediately take Tae-su and Seok-hwan. Victorious but exhausted, Seok-hwan and Tae-su set to take on Pil-ho, but Pil-ho takes them by surprise by attacking Seok-hwan, who loses his fingers. Pil-ho turns and stabs Tae-su, ignoring Seok-hwan, who is binding the

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

to his hand with torn table cloth. Tae-su informs Pil-ho that the last man who stands last wins. Before Pil-ho could react, Seok-hwan stabs him through the chest, killing him. As Tae-su bleeds to death, an exhausted Seok-hwan glances around, noting the carnage he and his late friend Tae-su had created, and sighs heavily.

Cast

... Yoo Suk-hwan **

Kim Shi-hoo Kim Si-Hoo (born Kim Young-Joon on 2 January 1988) is a South Korean actor. Filmography Films Television series Awards and nominations References External links * * * * South Korean male film actors South Korean male televis ...

... Yoo Suk-hwan (young) *

... Jung Tae-soo **

On Joo-wan On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001 * ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 200 ...

... Jung Tae-soo (young) *

Lee Beom-soo Lee Beom-soo (born January 3, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He is well known for his role in ''Singles'', ''Giant'', '' On Air'', '' Surgeon Bong Dal-hee, ''as well as in'' History of a Salaryman.'' Lee enrolled in the Department of Theater ...

... Jang Pil-ho ** Kim Dong-young ... Jang Pil-ho (young) *Jung Suk-yong ... Yoo Dong-hwan **Park Young-seo ... Yoo Dong-hwan (young) *Lee Joo-shil ... Yoo Suk-hwan's mother *

Ahn Gil-kang Ahn Gil-kang (born August 24, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He frequently appears as a supporting actor in director Ryoo Seung-wan's films, such as ''Die Bad'' (2000), ''Crying Fist'' (2005), ''The City of Violence'' (2006), and ''Dachimawa Lee' ...

... Oh Wang-jae **

Jung Woo Jung Woo (born Kim Jung-guk on January 14, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the drama ''Reply 1994'' (2013) and ''You're the Best, Lee Soon-shin'' (2013). Career Jung Woo made his acting debut in 2006, and began ...

... Oh Wang-jae (young) *

Kim Byeong-ok Kim Byeong-ok (born October 11, 1960) is a South Korean actor. A veteran supporting actor, he is best known for his role as Mr. Han in '' Oldboy''. Career In 2015, he was featured in a controversial Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: En ...

... Youth president *

Kim Seo-hyung Kim Seo-hyung (born October 28, 1973) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her portrayal as the evil mistress Shin Ae-ri in the SBS revenge drama '' Temptation of Wife'' (2008) and as Coach Kim in the JTBC television series ''Sky Ca ...

... Jang Mi-ran *Jo Deok-hyun ... Boss Jo *Kim Gi-cheon ... Sal-soo *

Kim Kkot-bi Kim Kkobbi ( ko, 김꽃비; born November 24, 1985) is a South Korean actress. The syllables of her given name literally mean "flower" () and "rain" (). Career Kim Kkobbi was working as an extra on the 2001 film '' My Boss, My Hero'' when a sta ...

... high school girl with razor blade * Kim Su-hyeon ... Seoul detective *Im Jun-il ... Team leader Im *Lee Na-ri ... Miss Bae *

Park Ji-hwan Park Ji-hwan (; born September 5, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He initially appeared in ''Yellow Hair'' (1999) and made his feature film debut in '' The City of Violence'' (2006). Since then, Park has performed in numerous movies and televisi ...

... teen gang boss *Lee Hong-pyo ... Onsung area cop *Oh Joo-hee ...

hanbok The (; term used in South Korean standard language, South Korea), also called () n North Korean standard language, North Korea and China, is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term which is used to refer to traditional ethnic Koreans, Korean ...

-wearing woman in special room 2 *Kim Hyo-sun ... secretary

Awards and nominations

2006

Chunsa Film Art Awards The Chunsa Film Art Awards (also known as the Icheon Chunsa Film Festival) have been presented in South Korea since the founding of the prize by the Korea Film Directors' Society in 1990. The awards take their name from the pen name of the early ...

* Best Supporting Actor -

2006

Busan Film Critics Awards Established in 2000, the Busan Film Critics Awards is run by the Busan Film Critics Association (BCFA), a small but independent-minded group of critics based in Busan, South Korea. Each year they announce their choices shortly before the opening o ...

* Best Cinematography - Kim Yeong-cheol

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by ''Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popula ...

* Nomination - Best Supporting Actor -

2006

Korean Film Awards The Korean Film Awards was a South Korean film awards ceremony hosted by the broadcasting network MBC from 2002 to 2010. History Originally named the MBC Film Awards, the ceremony was first established in 2002. It was renamed the Korean Film Aw ...

* Best Supporting Actor -

* Nomination - Best Editing -

Nam Na-yeong Nam Na-yeong (; born 1970) is a South Korean film editor and negative cutter. She has edited films with directors Ryoo Seung-wan (''Arahan'', ''The City of Violence'', and ''Crying Fist''), Kim Jee-woon (''The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' and ''I ...

* Nomination - Best Music -

Bang Jun-seok Bang Jun-seok (1 August 1970 – 26 March 2022) was a South Korean film score composer and music director. He was also a member of the experimental band U&Me Blue. Bang died of stomach cancer on March 26, 2022, in New York City. Filmograph ...

* Nomination - Best Sound - Seo Yeong-jun, Jo Min-ho

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

* Nomination - Best Director -

* Nomination - Best Supporting Actor -

* Nomination - Best Cinematography - Kim Yeong-cheol * Nomination - Best Editing -

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:City of Violence, The 2006 films 2006 action thriller films 2006 crime thriller films 2000s crime action films 2000s buddy films Films about organized crime in South Korea Films directed by Ryoo Seung-wan 2000s Korean-language films Police detective films South Korean action thriller films South Korean crime thriller films South Korean crime action films CJ Entertainment films 2000s South Korean films