''Cold Eyes'' ( or "Surveillance") is a 2013 South Korean

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

starring Sul Kyung-gu, Jung Woo-sung, and

Han Hyo-joo Han Hyo-joo (; born Han Ji-yeong, February 22, 1987) is a South Korean actress. She gained wide recognition with the back-to-back successes of '' Brilliant Legacy'' (2009) and ''Dong Yi'' (2010), both of which were massive hits with high viewe ...

. A

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the 2007 Hong Kong film '' Eye in the Sky'', ''Cold Eyes'' is about detectives from the surveillance team of a special crime unit who work together to track down a highly efficient and dangerous robber and the crew he leads. It made its North American premiere at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...

, and also screened at the 2013 Busan International Film Festival in the Open Cinema section.

Plot

After a job interview, Ha Yoon-joo, a woman with

photographic memory Eidetic memory ( ), also known as photographic memory and total recall, is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''photogr ...

gets hired by a police division where she meets members who to her surprise are largely unarmed and don't wear uniforms, as they specialize in surveillance rather than policing. She joins a team led by a man named Hwang, the division avoids arresting criminals and focuses exclusively on following them around to gather information. The surveillance team immediately runs into trouble when they can't identify a particular ring of robbers due to their masks and their efficiency in robbing the bank. In response, Hwang, Ha, and six other officers spend several weeks wandering around the city streets, tagging after people who match the criminal's physical description. When they finally find him, they put cameras outside his apartment. Meanwhile, James, the leader of the criminals, wishes to quit his line of work, but his elderly mentor responds by sending a man to kill him, whom he successfully defends against. When James's subordinates confer to discuss the next mission, they are successfully tracked by Hwang's officers who call in a SWAT team to subdue them. Elsewhere, James, murders one of Hwang's officers to escape. Later, after the mentor criticises James and is attacked by his bodyguards, James retaliates by murdering both the mentor and his bodyguards. He then acquires a fake Thai passport and gets ready to leave South Korea. Hwang and Ha both feel sad at the death of their colleague. As a result, Hwang announces his resignation while Ha takes a leave of absence. However, while Ha is doing her laundry, she suddenly remembers how she had randomly run into James in the past. Namely, on the day of her police interview, James fleetingly walked past her inside a subway car, carrying a grocery store brochure. Ha runs to the grocery store and waits there, managing to catch sight of James again, and urgently notifies Hwang and his officers while staying on James's tail. When James walks into a tunnel, Hwang takes over the pursuit, but James recognizes Hwang (he had seen him in the mirror earlier when he was being followed) and stabs him. Luckily, though, the wound isn't fatal. Ha continues the pursuit into the subway tunnels but this time she is also recognized by James and eventually held hostage. When the SWAT team comes down to the subway tunnel, Ha stabs James in the leg but he escapes and runs deeper into the tunnels. As the chase goes on, James finds himself trapped between the advancing SWAT team and the mouth of the tunnel, which is being guarded by Hwang, who ran the long way around. As James decides to charge at Hwang, the latter, finding himself at the juncture of an oncoming train, stands his ground to shoot at James, risking a 50/50 chance of the train flattening him. Fortunately, the train takes the other branch and James is shot dead by Hwang. Encouraged by the success, Hwang withdraws his resignation, and together with Ha, goes on to execute further such missions including the pursuit of an international terrorist.

Cast

* Sul Kyung-gu as Chief detective Hwang * Jung Woo-sung as James, leader of an international crime ring *

as rookie detective Ha Yoon-joo *

Jin Kyung Jin Kyung (; born March 27, 1972) is a South Korean actress. Early years Jin learned piano as a child. She graduated from Seonhwa Arts Middle School, and entered Daewon Foreign Language High School. Her interest at acting started when Jin wat ...

as Department head Lee *

Lee Jun-ho Lee Jun-ho (; born January 25, 1990), known mononymously as Junho, is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band 2PM. Lee made his acting debut in the film ''Cold Eyes'' (2013) and has since starred in ''Twenty ...

as Detective Daramjwi ("Squirrel") *

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 ...

as mysterious broker/cobbler * Byun Yo-han as M3 *

Lee Dong-hwi Lee Dong-hwi (born July 22, 1985) is a South Korean actor and singer. He gained recognition through his role in the critically acclaimed television series ''Reply 1988'' (2015–2016). Lee starred in the film ''Extreme Job'' (2019), List of h ...

as Parrot *

Simon Yam Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He is best known for his performances in films such as '' PTU'' (2003), ''Election'' (2005), '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'' (2005), ''Triangle'' (2007), '' Sparrow'' (2008), ' ...

as target of surveillance team

Box office

''Cold Eyes'' smashed 2.17 million in the first week of release. After 17 days, it reached 4 million admissions. It reached the 5 million mark on July 27, with 5,506,409 total admissions at the end of its run.

Awards and nominations

; 2013 Buil Film Awards * Best Actress -

* Nominated - Best Supporting Actress -

* Nominated - Best New Actor -

* Nominated - Best Screenplay -

Cho Ui-seok Cho Ui-seok (; born January 1, 1976) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. Career Cho made his debut with the action comedy ''Make It Big'' (2002). His third feature is the thriller '' Cold Eyes'' (2013). His fourth film was the ...

* Nominated - Best Cinematography - Kim Byeong-seo ;2013

Korean Association of Film Critics Awards The Korean Association of Film Critics Awards (), also known as the Critics Choice Awards (), is an annual awards ceremony for excellence in film in South Korea. It was established in 1980 by the Korean Association of Film Critics (KAFC). The ce ...

* Nominated - Best Actress -

; 2013 Grand Bell Awards * Nominated - Best Costume Design - Jo Sang-gyeong ; 2013 Blue Dragon Film Awards * Best Actress -

* Nominated - Best Supporting Actor - Jung Woo-sung * Nominated - Best Cinematography - Kim Byeong-seo, Yeo Kyung-bo * Nominated - Best Lighting - Kim Seung-gyu * Nominated - Best Music - Dalparan, Jang Young-gyu * Nominated - Technical Award - Shin Min-kyung ;2013

Asia Pacific Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first he ...

* Nominated - Best Editing - Shin Min-kyung ; 2014 Asian Film Awards * Best Editor - Shin Min-kyung * Nominated - Best Actress -

* Nominated - Best Supporting Actor - Jung Woo-sung * Nominated - Best Cinematography - Kim Byeong-seo, Yeo Kyung-bo ; 2014 Baeksang Arts Awards * Best Supporting Actress -

* Nominated - Best Director -

, Kim Byeong-seo * Nominated - Best Actor - Jung Woo-sung * Nominated - Most Popular Actor (Film) - Jung Woo-sung * Nominated - Most Popular Actress (Film) -

References

External links