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The film then begins with a young girl crawling out of a sewer vent, carrying a luggage bag. She walks towards an anti-reunification protest which contains hundreds of protesters who throw Molotov cocktails, bricks and pipe bombs at riot police attempting to control the scene. The young girl navigates through the protest, eventually handing off the bag to a man wearing a black face mask. Nearby, a group of Sect members open a weapons box, containing multiple firearms. The bag is revealed to have contained a bomb, and the Sect members throw bombs into the blockade and fire into it with guns. The Special Unit then arrives, which causes the Sect members to disperse and hide underground in the sewers. The young girl follows, and once underground is given another bag by Sect members and is told to bring it to "District 3." An alarm rings throughout the underground compound alerting the group that the Special Unit has arrived, and has breached the underground. All of the individuals flee, with the girl splitting from the other Sect members in the tunnels. The group eventually links up with other Sect members who run down a main passage in an attempt to escape. The special unit eventually catches up, promptly firing on and killing the Sect members.
The film then begins with a young girl crawling out of a sewer vent, carrying a luggage bag. She walks towards an anti-reunification protest which contains hundreds of protesters who throw Molotov cocktails, bricks and pipe bombs at riot police attempting to control the scene. The young girl navigates through the protest, eventually handing off the bag to a man wearing a black face mask. Nearby, a group of Sect members open a weapons box, containing multiple firearms. The bag is revealed to have contained a bomb, and the Sect members throw bombs into the blockade and fire into it with guns. The Special Unit then arrives, which causes the Sect members to disperse and hide underground in the sewers. The young girl follows, and once underground is given another bag by Sect members and is told to bring it to "District 3." An alarm rings throughout the underground compound alerting the group that the Special Unit has arrived, and has breached the underground. All of the individuals flee, with the girl splitting from the other Sect members in the tunnels. The group eventually links up with other Sect members who run down a main passage in an attempt to escape. The special unit eventually catches up, promptly firing on and killing the Sect members.


The group then catches up to the young girl, who detonates a bomb inside her bag. The protagonist then wakes up on a hospital bed, presumably remembering in incident. A black military truck is then seen driving into a facility marked as a waste recycling plant, however it is revealed the facility is rather the entrance to the Special Unit HQ. A news broadcast plays on a TV inside the facility covering the suicide bombing incident in the tunnels, noting growing consensus to disband the Special Unit. The news broadcast also reveals a government fact-finding commitee will discuss future restrictions on the police unit.
The group then catches up to the young girl, who detonates a bomb inside her bag. The protagonist then wakes up on a hospital bed, presumably remembering in incident. A black military truck is then seen driving into a facility marked as a waste recycling plant, however it is revealed the facility is rather the entrance to the Special Unit HQ. A news broadcast plays on a TV inside the facility covering the suicide bombing incident in the tunnels, noting growing consensus to disband the Special Unit. The news broadcast also reveals a government fact-finding committee will discuss future restrictions on the police unit. The Special Unit's activities are also temporarily suspended.

A conversation between Chief Presidential Secretary Bak Jeong-gi and Jang Jin-tae, the Chief of training camp for the unit reveals that the Sect's leader as well as numerous Sect members escaped during the raid.


==Cast==
==Cast==

Revision as of 02:26, 8 November 2021

Illang: The Wolf Brigade
Theatrical poster
Directed byKim Jee-woon
Screenplay byKim Jee-woon
Jeon Cheol-hong
Based onJin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade and characters created
by Mamoru Oshii
Produced byKim Woo-sang
Starring
CinematographyLee Mo-gae
Edited byYang Jin-mo
Music byMowg
Production
company
Lewis Pictures[1]
Distributed byWarner Bros. Korea
Release date
  • July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25)
Running time
138 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
BudgetUS$17 million[2]
Box officeUS$6.2 million[3]

Illang: The Wolf Brigade[3] (Korean: 인랑; Hanja: 人狼; RR: Illang; lit. Human-Wolf; also known as Inrang) is a 2018 South Korean science fiction action film directed by Kim Jee-woon and starring Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo, Jung Woo-sung and Kim Mu-yeol. It is a live-action adaptation of the Japanese animated film Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade.[4][5]

The film is set in 2029 where South and North Korea prepare for a unified government after a severe economic depression slams both countries. South Korean police launches a special unit, known as "Illang" (The Wolf Brigade), in response to the rise of an anti-reunification domestic insurgency called "The Sect".[6]

The film was released on July 25, 2018.[7][8][9] Distributed by Warner Bros. Korea, the film had cost 19 billion won (US$17.04 million) to produce. It received mixed reviews and under-performed at the domestic box office, selling around 897,000 tickets against its break-even point of six million tickets.[10][11] The film competed in the San Sebastián International Film Festival for the Golden Shell, becoming the second South Korean film to do so.[12]

Synopsis

The film takes place in 2024, when "political order in the Korean peninsula is shaken," following territorial disputes between China, Japan, and the Koreas. The events prompt Japan to remilitarize, and the U.S. and Russia to ramp up military interests in the area. Fearing the possibility of war, North Korea and South Korea agree to re-unify for the sake of survival, with a five year interim put in place as preparation for the unification. This generates significant backlash from the region's powers (the U.S, Russia, China, and Japan) who oppose unification.

Significant tariffs are imposed upon both countries, creating an economic depression for both, and weakening public support for reunification. The unrest generated by the political tension in Asia, economic depression, and opposition to reunification results in a domestic terror group known as "The Sect" to form. The Korean police forces quickly become overwhelmed with the size and violence of protests in the regions, prompting the government to create a new, elite police force called the "Special Unit." The unit is characterized by their futuristic military gear, and respirators containing glowing red lights. A year after the formation of the Special Unit, a incident known as "Bloody Friday" occurs, in which the special unit mistakenly fires upon young girls in a suspected Sect compound. After the event, significant opposition to the Special Unit forces the group to utilize their iconic gas masks, to hide their identity as well as provide use in case of bio-hazardous threats.

The film then begins with a young girl crawling out of a sewer vent, carrying a luggage bag. She walks towards an anti-reunification protest which contains hundreds of protesters who throw Molotov cocktails, bricks and pipe bombs at riot police attempting to control the scene. The young girl navigates through the protest, eventually handing off the bag to a man wearing a black face mask. Nearby, a group of Sect members open a weapons box, containing multiple firearms. The bag is revealed to have contained a bomb, and the Sect members throw bombs into the blockade and fire into it with guns. The Special Unit then arrives, which causes the Sect members to disperse and hide underground in the sewers. The young girl follows, and once underground is given another bag by Sect members and is told to bring it to "District 3." An alarm rings throughout the underground compound alerting the group that the Special Unit has arrived, and has breached the underground. All of the individuals flee, with the girl splitting from the other Sect members in the tunnels. The group eventually links up with other Sect members who run down a main passage in an attempt to escape. The special unit eventually catches up, promptly firing on and killing the Sect members.

The group then catches up to the young girl, who detonates a bomb inside her bag. The protagonist then wakes up on a hospital bed, presumably remembering in incident. A black military truck is then seen driving into a facility marked as a waste recycling plant, however it is revealed the facility is rather the entrance to the Special Unit HQ. A news broadcast plays on a TV inside the facility covering the suicide bombing incident in the tunnels, noting growing consensus to disband the Special Unit. The news broadcast also reveals a government fact-finding committee will discuss future restrictions on the police unit. The Special Unit's activities are also temporarily suspended.

A conversation between Chief Presidential Secretary Bak Jeong-gi and Jang Jin-tae, the Chief of training camp for the unit reveals that the Sect's leader as well as numerous Sect members escaped during the raid.

Cast

A highly-trained officer/current member of Wolf Brigade who becomes conflicted after witnessing a young girl die before his eyes.
Supposed elder sister of "the girl in the red cape" who detonated a suicide bomb, and an officer of the Sect with a hospitalized younger brother.
Chief of training camp for Wolf Brigade.
Deputy head of the Public Security Department and former member of Wolf Brigade, who left after Bloody Friday.
Jang Jin-tae's right-armed man and leader of Wolf Brigade.
"The girl in red cape," Lee Yoon-hee's younger sister[15] and Sect's Head Bomb Runner.

Production

The film was financed by Union Investment Partners, with production being announced in 2013.[1][17] Filming began on August 16, 2017 in Studio Cube, a South Korean filming complex, and completed on March 23, 2018.[1][18][19]

Costumes for the film were designed by Hollywood artist Vanessa Lee, who also worked on the special effects costume for the 2006 film Underworld: Evolution and superhero costumes in the Avengers film series.[20]

Webtoon writer Yoon Tae-ho penned a prequel titled Illang: Prequel, which took place five years before the events of the film. It was developed by Kakao Pages and Daum Webtoon and was released on June 27, 2018, beginning a weekly run of chapters that led up to the film's release on July 25.[21]

Release

Illang: The Wolf Brigade was released in South Korea on July 25, 2018. Netflix acquired the international distribution rights of the film.[17][22][23]

The film was selected to compete at the 66th San Sebastián International Film Festival, which was held from September 21–29, 2018. It was Kim Jee-woon's second film to compete at the festival after I Saw the Devil in 2010. Kim and lead actor Gang Dong-won were set to attend the event.[24][12]

A red carpet and showcase event for the film was held on July 18, 2018 at Times Square Mall in Yeongdeungpo-gu with the attendance of the director and cast.[25][26]

Reception

Critical response

Mamoru Oshii, the writer of the novel which the film is based on, attended a special screening and commented, "I think this is a powerful movie that provokes lots of thought ... The balance between the realistic locations and the futuristic technologies like iron armor and diverse guns was very impressive."[27]

As per Yonhap review, the film "spent so much time trying to recreate the world from the animated movie and remakes it into a big-scale action blockbuster that it never got the simple things right... the film falls short of properly delivering the intense inner conflict felt by Joong-kyung."[28]

Jason Bechervaise from Screendaily wrote that the film "contains moments of stylistic brilliance through some compelling set-pieces. Yet moving the story from Japan to a Korean peninsula which is on the point of reunifying in 2029 results in a film which is both over-plotted and melodramatic."[29]

Box office

On the first day of its release, the film attracted 274,525 admissions.[27][30] After five days of release, Illang: The Wolf Brigade earned a total of US$5.29 million.[31]

The film was made on a US$17.0 million budget and targeted to attract around 6 million moviegoers. However, due to negative reviews from both critics and audience members, the film screened for only three weeks, and ended up attracting a total of 897,254 moviegoers, grossing US$6.2 million.[32] The number of South Korean film admissions in July 2018 dropped by 21.4% from 2017, to 5.39 million, due to the sluggishness of this film and the absence of intermediate films to replace it. The number of South Korean film admissions in July 2018 was the lowest since 2008.[33][34]

Awards and nominations

Awards Category Recipient Result Ref.
27th Buil Film Awards Best Cinematography Lee Mo-gae Nominated [35]
Best Art Direction Jo Hwa-sung Nominated
55th Grand Bell Awards Nominated [36][37]
Best Lighting Lee Sung-hwan Nominated
Best Costume Design Jo Sang-kyung Won
Technical Award Illang: The Wolf Brigade Nominated
39th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Cinematography and Lightning Nominated [38]
Best Art Direction Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b c Conran, Pierce. "KIM Jee-woon's Sci-fi Action INRANG Starts Shooting in August". Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Shim, Sun-ah (July 25, 2018). "(Yonhap Interview) Director Kim Jee-woon: Che Guevara inspires me to constantly challenge myself". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018)". Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  4. ^ Kim, Kyung-hee. '인랑' 강동원-한효주-정우성-김무열-최민호! 살아 숨 쉬는 다섯 명의 캐릭터 포스터!. iMBC (in Korean). MBC&iMBC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  5. ^ Conran, Pierce. "Warner Bros. and KIM Jee-woon Team Up Once More on JIN-ROH Remake". Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  6. ^ "Summer box-office preview: the 5 most highly anticipated Korean movies". Yonhap News. Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  7. ^ Conran, Pierce. "KIM Jee-woon's Sci-fi INRANG Arms Up for July Release". Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council. Archived from the original on June 9, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  8. ^ Shim, Sun-ah. "Director Kim Jee-woon's 'Inrang' unveiled to media". Yonhap News. Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  9. ^ Yoon, Min-sik. "Hotshots in film industry team up in sci-fi-themed 'The Wolf Brigade'". The Korea Herald. Herald Corporation. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  10. ^ "Korean cinemas earned more despite fewer admissions this summer". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  11. ^ "How 'Illang' went from blockbuster to major box office flop: Warner Bros. Korea's summer release failed to please audiences". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Kim Jee-woon's 'Wolf Brigade' advances to San Sebastian film fest". Yonhap News Agency. July 18, 2018. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Joestar, Jonathan (December 29, 2018). "The English Cast and Crew of Illang: The Wolf Brigade, the South Korean live action remake of #JinRoh, now available English dubbed on Netflix". Twitter. @JRPictures. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  14. ^ NEWSIS (2018-07-20). "영화 '인랑' 한예리". newsis (in Korean). Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  15. ^ Kim, Soo-jeong. 신예 신은수 '인랑' 합류…강동원과 두번째 호흡[공식]. Naver (in Korean). TV Report. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  16. ^ "Rookie Ok Ja-yeon to star in "Illang : The Wolf Brigade"". Hancinema. News1 Korea. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  17. ^ a b Frater, Patrick. "Netflix Picks Up Kim Jee-woon's 'Wolf Brigade'". Variety. Variety Media. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  18. ^ Conran, Pierce. "KIM Jee-woon's Sci-fi Action Drama INRANG Completes 8 Months of Filming". Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  19. ^ "S. Korea's largest film studio opens doors to support 'hallyu'". Yonhap News. Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  20. ^ Jang, Sun-hee. "Korean special makeup artist works for 'Darkest Hour'". The Dong-A Ilbo. Dong-A. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  21. ^ Conran, Pierce. "MOSS, INSIDE MEN Writer Pens ILLANG: PREQUEL Webtoon". Korean Film Biz Zone. Korean Film Council. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  22. ^ Hoai Tran Bui (July 18, 2018). "Netflix Picks Up Kim Jee-woon's Action Thriller 'Illang: The Wolf Brigade'". Slash Film. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  23. ^ "Netflix acquires distribution rights of South Korean action-thriller". Manila Bulletin. July 18, 2018. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  24. ^ "'Wolf Brigade' to compete in Spain". Korea JoongAng Daily. July 19, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  25. ^ Yim Hyun-su (July 9, 2018). "Gang Dong-won and Han Hyo-joo to make public appearance next week after dating rumors". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  26. ^ Park, Pan-seok. [종합] '인랑' 강동원·한효주, 역시 프로..열애설 흔들림 없었다. Naver (in Korean). OSEN. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  27. ^ a b Jin, Min-ji (July 27, 2018). "Despite star power, 'Illang' can't meet high expectations: Local adaptation of a Japanese hit film fails to satisfy movie critics". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  28. ^ Shim Sun-ah (July 24, 2018). "(Movie Review) 'Illang: The Wolf Brigade' eventually loses its way". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  29. ^ "'Illang: The Wolf Brigade': Review". Screen. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  30. ^ "[fn 인터뷰] 강동원 "'인랑', 감독에 대한 믿음으로 시작..다음엔 재미난 것 하고파"" (in Korean). Star Financial News. July 27, 2018. Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  31. ^ Sonia Kil (July 30, 2018). "Korea Box Office: 'Mission: Impossible' Beats 'Wolf Brigade'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  32. ^ 영화 '인랑', 화려한 캐스팅·제작비 190억원·김지운 감독… 흥행 기대 3요소의 굴욕 (in Korean). Joong-boo Daily. August 15, 2018.
  33. ^ 인랑’ 부진, 7월 한국영화 관객수 2008년 이후 최저…외화는 반사이익 (in Korean). Asian Today. August 17, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  34. ^ ""'인랑' 부진 만회할 韓 영화 없었다"..7월 韓영화 관객수 10년만에 최저". “‘인랑’ 부진 만회할 韓 영화 없었다”..7월 韓영화 관객수 10년만에 최저 - 손에 잡히는 뉴스 눈에 보이는 뉴스 - 뉴스엔 (in Korean). 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  35. ^ [23회 부산국제영화제] 부일영화상. Busan.com (in Korean). 20 September 2018.
  36. ^ 제55회 대종상, 각 부문 후보 공개…'공작' 12개 최다부문 노미네이트. Seoul Sports (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  37. ^ '버닝', 대종상 작품상 영예...1주기 故김주혁, 특별상 수상 [종합]. Osen (in Korean). 22 October 2018. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  38. ^ 청룡영화상 후보 발표, ‘1987’ 최다·‘공작’도 9개부문 후보. Newsen (in Korean). November 1, 2018.
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