A Korean cop has A Hard Day on his way to his mom’s funeral

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      Starring Lee Sun-kyun. In Korean, with English subtitles. Rating unavailable.

      A Hard Day’s first night is so tough on its hapless protagonist, you can’t imagine things getting much worse. Oh, but they do in this ceaselessly entertaining action comedy from Korean writer-director Kim Seong-hun.

      It’s bad enough when Ko Gun-soo (Lee Sun-kyun) smacks someone with his car on a dark and lonely road. But he doesn’t hit and run. Instead, he takes the body with him. After all, he’s on his way to his beloved mother’s funeral and can’t deal with the consequences at the moment. And he knows what they are, being a homicide detective and all.

      The slickly suited cop has other problems, since his whole department is under investigation for drug-and-money scams. Some loyal pals, including chubby Det. Choi (Jeong Man-sik), look out for him. But the other guys are starting to wonder about Ko—seemingly arrogant at the best of times—especially when they see how weird he’s acting at the funeral.

      Well, there’s still that body to dispose of. Good thing mothers always find a way to help. Trouble is, someone is watching Ko’s every move, and a voice on the phone starts telling him to pretty much undo much of what’s gone before. Here’s where I hesitate to say more about a film that depends on viewer disorientation for its thrills, except that Salut d’amour’s Cho Jin-woong, with passive face and glossy, dyed-black hair, excels as a ruthless adversary.

      We only root for Ko, in the end, because we spend so much time with film veteran Lee (a regular in Hong Sang-soo’s movies), in scenes that jump freely between tense close-ups and architecturally dazzling long shots that put his highly coincidental conflicts into frequently amusing—and sometimes shocking—context. The movie could, one supposes, establish a stronger connection with its antihero, since relationships with his family and colleagues are so vaguely sketched. But there’s no missing its deep, and deeply funny, critique of the corruption, violence, and chauvinism embedded in the national culture. And this Day’s unforgettable final shot is just one reason we’re bound to see it remade with Hollywood stars. Hard to imagine how it could be better, though.

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