▲ This still from "Humint" provided by NEW (Next Entertainment World) shows actor Zo In-sung as Manager Cho, a South Korean national intelligence officer. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ This still from "Humint" provided by NEW (Next Entertainment World) shows actor Shin Sae-kyeong as Chae Sun-hwa. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ Actor Park Jeong-min is seen as North Korean security officer Park Gun in this still from "Humint" provided by NEW (Next Entertainment World). (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ Actors Shin Sae-kyeong (L) and Park Jeong-min are seen as Chae Sun-hwa and North Korean security officer Park Gun, respectively, in this still from "Humint" provided by NEW (Next Entertainment World). (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(Movie Review) Humint

(Movie Review) 'Humint': Ryoo Seung wan's romance wrapped in unflinching action

By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- Director Ryoo Seung-wan, widely known for gritty, hard-hitting acting sequences grounded in realism, is back. This time, his action thriller "Humint" leans closer to romance than action.

This does not mean his signature fight scenes are lacking in any way. Rather, they operate as a storytelling device that sustains the film's romantic thread.

"Humint," short for human intelligence, opens with Manager Cho (Zo In-sung), a South Korean national intelligence officer, losing his key informant with whom he had developed a close rapport -- a North Korean woman trafficked into brothel work in Southeast Asia who holds crucial intelligence on the regime's drug operations.

Reinforcing the director's distinct action style from the outset, the fight sequences in the cramped hotel room and corridor, where Cho struggles to protect her, are brutally raw and intense, guaranteed to make viewers flinch.

Haunted by his failure to protest his source, Cho moves to Vladivostok following clues left behind by the woman. There he begins cultivating a new source, Chae Sun-hwa (Shin Sae-kyeong), another North Korean woman working at a local restaurant.

Meanwhile, North Korean security officer Park Gun (Park Jeong-min) also arrives in the Russian city, ostensibly tasked with monitoring Hwang Chi-sung (Park Hae-joon), the North Korean consul general there, who is suspected of being involved in human and narcotics trafficking.

Gun's real purpose, however, is to search for Sun-hwa, a former lover whom he broke up with after a relationship went sour over the brutal interrogation of Sun-hwa's father.

One of the most poignant moments of the film comes when Gun encounters Sun-hwa at the restaurant where she works. As she performs onstage, singing a song laden with meaning for them both, their history unfolds through lingering glances and a faded photograph.

Shin Se-kyung's luminous presence is enough on its own to capture the tragedy of their romance. Whether Park convinces as a romantic lead is up to individual taste. What is certain, though, is the actor demonstrates the depth and vulnerability needed to anchor a love story.

As each character's hidden agenda comes into play, the film's pace accelerates through cat-and-mouse chases that build relentless tension and adrenaline.

As for action sequences, the stairwell fight between Park Gun and Assistant Manager Im (Jung Eu-gene), Cho's female colleague, epitomizes the director's trademark style. It is literally nothing-held-back, visceral confrontation that crystallizes Ryu's signature approach to action.

In the end, though, what lingers after the credits rolls is not the action but the humanity and the choices people make. At the heart of it all is trust -- whether between two people in love or between agent and informant. In that sense, the film might feel, for some viewers, as Ryoo's most compassionate work to date.

"Humint" opened in local cinemas Wednesday.

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