''The Shameless'' (; lit. "A Thug" or "A Rogue") is a 2015 South Korean

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

crime drama film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

starring

Jeon Do-yeon Jeon Do-yeon (; born February 11, 1973) is a South Korean actress. She made her film debut with '' The Contact'' (1997), a melodrama that established her as a leading actress. She continued to gain acclaim with ''A Promise'' (1998), a romantic ...

and

Kim Nam-gil Kim Nam-gil (; born March 13, 1980) is a South Korean actor, producer, director, singer and philanthropist. He is best known from leading roles in period drama ''Portrait of a Beauty'' (2008); adventure film ''The Pirates (2014 film), The Pirate ...

. It is written and directed by Oh Seung-uk, who described it as a "

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

romantic noir thriller. ''The Shameless'' made its world premiere in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section of the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2015. Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel Coen were the Co-Presidents of the Jury for the main competition, marking the first time that two people co-chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers ...

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

as Kim Hye-kyung *

as Jung Jae-gon *

Park Sung-woong Park Sung-woong (; born January 9, 1973) is a South Korean actor. Following his acting debut in ''No. 3'' in 1997, Park has starred in several movies and Korean drama, television series, notably as a gangster in ''New World (2013 film), New Wo ...

as Park Joon-gil *

Kwak Do-won Kwak Do-won (born Kwak Byung-kyu on May 17, 1973) is a South Korean actor. He first gained recognition in supporting roles in the films '' The Yellow Sea'' (2010) and '' Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time'' (2012). Kwak is known for starring in ...

as Moon Ki-beom *Kim Min-jae as Min Young-ki *

Oh Ha-nee Oh Ha-nee () is a South Korean actress. She is known for her roles in dramas such as '' Goodbye to Goodbye'', '' Tempted'', '' The Crowned Clown'' and '' Three Bold Siblings''. She also appeared in movies '' The Shameless'', '' A Special Lady'', ...

as Son Min-ji *

Park Ji-hwan Park Ji-hwan (; born September 5, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He initially appeared in ''Yellow Hair'' (1999) and made his feature film debut in ''The City of Violence'' (2006). Since then, Park has performed in numerous movies and television ...

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 is the second film Oh Seung-uk has directed, 15 years after his directorial debut ''Kilimanjaro'' (2000). Oh was a prominent screenwriter in the 1990s, having written ''

Green Fish ''Green Fish'' () is a 1997 South Korean neo-noir crime film. It was the first feature-length film directed by Lee Chang-dong, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Lee had previously been known as a novelist and high school teacher. The film stars H ...

'' (1997) and '' Christmas in August'' (1998).

Lee Jung-jae Lee Jung-jae (; born December 15, 1972) is a South Korean actor, filmmaker, and businessman. Considered one of South Korea's most successful actors, he has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild A ...

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 In Sri Lankan cricket, a Big Match is an annual school cricket match typically played between two rival schools in Sri Lanka. These schools often have a long history of competition, some rivalries lasting over a century. Big matches have bec ...

''. He was replaced by

. ''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

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shameless, The 2015 films South Korean neo-noir films 2015 crime drama films 2010s romance films South Korean crime drama films South Korean romance films 2010s Korean-language films 2010s South Korean films Romantic crime films