The Shameless


The Shameless is a 2015 South Korean neo-noir crime drama film starring Jeon Do-yeon and Kim Nam-gil. It is written and directed by Oh Seung-uk, who described it as a "hardboiled romantic noir thriller.
The Shameless made its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The police are staking out Park Joon-gil for the murder of Hwang Choong-nam, and jaded detective Jung Jae-gon is being pressured to close the case, particularly by his former superior Moon Ki-beom, who lost his badge for corruption. Joon-gil was once the mob enforcer for Jay Investment, but had fallen out of favor when he embezzled and stole the heart of Kim Hye-kyung, the girlfriend of the company's vice president Park Jong-ho. Jay Investment representative Min Young-ki approaches Jae-gon and offers him to ensure that Joon-gil is maimed during the arrest as payback. Jae-gon reluctantly agrees, but a botched arrest sends Joon-gil on the run, and Jae-gon decides the best way to find him again is by sticking with Hye-kyung, hoping she will lead him to the fugitive. Hye-kyung now works as a bar hostess to pay off her substantial debt to Jong-ho, and Jae-gon threatens his way into an undercover job as a floor manager at the nightclub she works at. Introducing himself as Joon-gil's former cellmate Lee Young-joon, Jae-gon begins to spend time with the suspicious Hye-kyung and gradually wins her trust. But when Joon-gil returns asking Hye-kyung for money for a potential deal, Jae-gon's newfound feelings of love and jealousy rise to the surface.

Cast

  • Jeon Do-yeon as Kim Hye-kyung
  • Kim Nam-gil as Jung Jae-gon
  • Park Sung-woong as Park Joon-gil
  • Kwak Do-won as Moon Ki-beom
  • Kim Min-jae as Min Young-ki
  • Oh Ha-nee as Son Min-ji
  • Park Ji-hwan as Son Kyung-soo
  • Choi Young-do as Kim Ho-gil
  • Ha Ji-eun as Han Ji-yeon
  • Kang Tae-young as Kim Jin-hyung
  • Ji Seung-hyun as Kim Dong-soo
  • Chu Gwi-jeong as Strange woman
  • Sung Seung-hyun as Drug addict
  • Shin Sam-bong as Shopkeeper
  • Ji Goon-woo as Drug dealer
  • Lee Dong-jin as Hwang Choong-nam
  • Yoo Ji-yeon as Hwang's lover
  • Jung Jae-woong as Kim Hyung-seok
  • Yoon Seung-won as Park Jong-ho
  • Jo Won-hee as Deok-ryong

    Production

This was the second film Oh Seung-uk had directed, 15 years after his directorial debut Kiliminjaro. Oh was a prominent screenwriter in the 1990s, having written Green Fish and Christmas in August.
Lee Jung-jae was originally cast in the leading role as Jung Jae-gon, but dropped out after he was injured on the set of his 2014 film Big Match. He was replaced by Kim Nam-gil.
The Shameless began filming in June 2014.

Box office

The Shameless was released on May 27, 2015. It opened at fourth place in the box office, grossing from 272,000 admissions in its first five days. By the end of its run, it had grossed from 413,836 admissions.

Awards and nominations