Nowhere to Hide

Rating:
Summary: Imagine Leni Riefenstahl had made a gangster film...
Review: 'Nowhere to hide' is the most visually original film I have seen in years. going way beyond the Oriental action movie pyrotechnics that have shaped Hollywood imitations since 'the Matrix', director Lee Myung-se tirelessly creates something startlingly different in each scene, each frame even. The scene that triggers the main narrative, for instance, the murder of a drug baron, is filmed as an extraordinary cinematic poem, using Eisenstein's Odessa Steps sequence from 'Battleship Potemkin', completely draining of it its kinetic energy, as the rain falls slowly, a mournful Bee Gees cover over the soundtrack, the action choreographed in slow-motion fragments, the actual act less a brutal crime than the culmination of a dance in colour and movement. this destabilising of the action occurs throughout - slow motion so slow it becomes a photo-story; definition so pixelated it becomes animation; editing so fractured it becomes abstract. When Lee isn't making the crime narrative unexpectedly beautiful - one roof-top, laundry-lined, nocturnal fist-fight is turned into a flickering shadow-show; a Kitano-like sequence of rare calm priveleges a snowball-fight between two detective friends as they wait and wait - he is making it comic: the influence of Sergio Leone and his imitators loom large in the exagerrated, implausible and bathetic treatment of violence.

The problem with so much restless originality is that the plot gets somewhat lost, the genre becomes destabilised too effectively. the hero, the archly-named Detective Woo, is the kind of gleefully fascistic cop who makes Harry Callahan and Aldrich's Mike Hammer look bureaucratic, wielding baseball bats with aplomb, torturing suspects by hanging them from their feet off rails. There are a few cliched attempts to give 'depth' to this lunatic, by suggesting his alienation from his family, or the poignancy of his friendship with his sidekick. what actually happens is that Woo's authority is undermined not by his psychosis, but that his power is only assured when backed by a group of gangster-like heavies; on his own he is notably inept, no match for the silent, charismatic, deadly Gian Maria Volonte-lookalike, whose elegant swiftness is much more appealing. 'Nowhere' is the kind of film you desperately want to love, but, because it doesn't really gel, you can't.

Rating:
Summary: Imagine Leni Riefenstahl had made a gangster film...
Review: 'Nowhere to hide' is the most visually original film I have seen in years. going way beyond the Oriental action movie pyrotechnics that have shaped Hollywood imitations since 'the Matrix', director Lee Myung-se tirelessly creates something startlingly different in each scene, each frame even. The scene that triggers the main narrative, for instance, the murder of a drug baron, is filmed as an extraordinary cinematic poem, using Eisenstein's Odessa Steps sequence from 'Battleship Potemkin', completely draining of it its kinetic energy, as the rain falls slowly, a mournful Bee Gees cover over the soundtrack, the action choreographed in slow-motion fragments, the actual act less a brutal crime than the culmination of a dance in colour and movement. this destabilising of the action occurs throughout - slow motion so slow it becomes a photo-story; definition so pixelated it becomes animation; editing so fractured it becomes abstract. When Lee isn't making the crime narrative unexpectedly beautiful - one roof-top, laundry-lined, nocturnal fist-fight is turned into a flickering shadow-show; a Kitano-like sequence of rare calm priveleges a snowball-fight between two detective friends as they wait and wait - he is making it comic: the influence of Sergio Leone and his imitators loom large in the exagerrated, implausible and bathetic treatment of violence.

The problem with so much restless originality is that the plot gets somewhat lost, the genre becomes destabilised too effectively. the hero, the archly-named Detective Woo, is the kind of gleefully fascistic cop who makes Harry Callahan and Aldrich's Mike Hammer look bureaucratic, wielding baseball bats with aplomb, torturing suspects by hanging them from their feet off rails. There are a few cliched attempts to give 'depth' to this lunatic, by suggesting his alienation from his family, or the poignancy of his friendship with his sidekick. what actually happens is that Woo's authority is undermined not by his psychosis, but that his power is only assured when backed by a group of gangster-like heavies; on his own he is notably inept, no match for the silent, charismatic, deadly Gian Maria Volonte-lookalike, whose elegant swiftness is much more appealing. 'Nowhere' is the kind of film you desperately want to love, but, because it doesn't really gel, you can't.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best crime dramas I have seen!!
Review: Every now and than comes a movie that just excites you from the opening credits to the ending credits. This Movie is one of them!

I remember seeing this movie at the video store and wonder: "what the hell is this about?" I put the dvd in the player, pressed start and the rest was magic! I loved it so much I watched it twice that day, and ordered it the next day.

If you are a big fan of film editing, this movie will amaze you! I have not been so excited from a movie by how it was cut! You have to see it for yourself, to see what I am talking about.

The story, plot, characters, sound, lighting, edit, and music are purely great! Myung-se Lee seems to be on the right road one day to be consider great among his peers, if he keeps up with this kind of direction for his movies.

As for now, I am becoming a great fan of his movies.. and cannot wait to see what he'll do next!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, stunning, beautiful action movie from Korea
Review: I happened upon this movie on some premium cable movie station, and I was thrilled by it. It's the best action movie I've seen in years, and definitely one of the best I've seen period. It is to me probably even better than the movies of some of those highly esteemed directors of the genre like John Woo and Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano, both visually and in film technique. I think any real movie fan would be stunned by this movie. I hope it becomes a cult classic, it surely deserves to be. I am definitely looking forward to future films by its director, Myung-se Lee.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I missed this film when it played in some theaters in Los Angeles a few months back, but not because I didn't want to see it. I remember this film getting a tremendous number of rave reviews, with comparisons running the gamut from John Woo to Wong Kar-Wai to Run Lola Run. Having seen it, I simply do not understand all the hype. This is not a terrible film, and it has some moments of genuine beauty and off-the-wall humor. But it truly is style over substance, something that wouldn't be a problem if the style were interesting. But it's really not. Nowhere to Hide uses a whole bag of tricks--black and white film, freeze frame, even some animation. But to what end? I was surprised at how uninvolved I was in the story and I kept thinking "All that hype for this?" On a positive note, the acting is very good and the characterizations are unusual in a good way. But this isn't something that you need to see.

Rating:
Summary: Rent it, don't buy it!
Review: I saw this movie and thought everything was so absurd. How could rain pour like cats and dogs and have sunlight in the background? (Last fight scene at the abadoned railway) This movie is about a killer drug lord trying to get away from the cops. The plot was dumb, the cinematography was less than average; however, the only nice thing I can say about this movie is it's soundtrack. Pretty good stuff.

Give it a rent and see how you like it. Don't blame me that I didn't warn you.

Rating:
Summary: Rent it, don't buy it!
Review: I saw this movie and thought everything was so absurd. How could rain pour like cats and dogs and have sunlight in the background? (Last fight scene at the abadoned railway) This movie is about a killer drug lord trying to get away from the cops. The plot was dumb, the cinematography was less than average; however, the only nice thing I can say about this movie is it's soundtrack. Pretty good stuff.

Give it a rent and see how you like it. Don't blame me that I didn't warn you.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most original Action movies ever come out!
Review: This film is Lee, myungse's first try at action genre, before he only made drama and romance kinda movies. At his middle of directing career, he finally found something different which was mostly a visual touch. It is not like an American film, it had no good plots, but the raw feeling and erie images are working at their best. You will remember some scenes; they won't go away easily from your brain. All I can say is that you will see something new and unique, and that is why this movie deserves my rating. (Creativity) Five Stars. Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: One of the most original Action movies ever come out!
Review: This film is Lee, myungse's first try at action genre, before he only made drama and romance kinda movies. At his middle of directing career, he finally found something different which was mostly a visual touch. It is not like an American film, it had no good plots, but the raw feeling and erie images are working at their best. You will remember some scenes; they won't go away easily from your brain. All I can say is that you will see something new and unique, and that is why this movie deserves my rating. (Creativity) Five Stars. Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: A Gem
Review: This is a diamond of a film but, like a diamond, it's not without its flaws. Thankfully, you can forgive the tiny defects and just sit back and enjoy some stunning film work.
The most innovative (in terms of cinematography) action-thriller ever made in Asia, Nowhere to Hide is about how, over the next seventy-two hours, Detectives Woo (whose lumbering, shrug-shouldered, open-mouthed strut speaks volumes about his personality) and Kim (Woo's more restrained, and not to mention more rational, partner) will push their skills to the limits and their team of cops to the edge as they conduct a manhunt for the elusive, and not to mention murderous, drug lord Chang Sungmin.
Every scene in the film is well concieved and well crafted, from the gorgeously rendered, dream-like opening sequence set in the rain to the final showdown between Woo and Sungmin, set in an abandoned factory complex, engulfed, once again, in rain.
"Nowhere To Hide" is absolutely one of the most visually stunning movies I've ever seen. Every scene is a cinematographic masterpiece. Myung-se Lee is a master of effectively using "particle storms" ... falling leaves, rain, snow, flowing sheets. I particularly like the ways he use contrast, high and low, as well as just about every visual trick imaginable. Style over substance. Sure...but mightily impressive style.