New World -2013 Film- -

It is easy to call Lee Joong-gu (the psychotic rival) the villain, but the real antagonist of the is Choi Min-sik’s Chief Kang. Min-sik, known for his wild-eyed intensity in Oldboy , plays Kang with chilling, bureaucratic calm.

Director Park Hoon-jung masterfully inverts the genre trope. Usually, the criminal is the devil tempting the angel. Here, the police force is the devil. Chief Kang blackmails Ja-sung, threatens his pregnant wife, and demands he betray the only man who treats him like a human brother. By the film’s final act, the audience is actively rooting for the gangster to kill the cops. New World -2013 Film-

When the chairman of South Korea’s largest crime syndicate, It is easy to call Lee Joong-gu (the

Jung Chung is not a typical movie gangster. He is calm, brilliant, and deeply loyal. He suspects everyone in the organization except Ja-sung. In scene after scene, Jung Chung saves Ja-sung’s life, defends him to rivals, and offers him a future as his "right hand." The audience watches Ja-sung’s resolve crack with every act of kindness. Usually, the criminal is the devil tempting the angel

The final shot—involving an elevator and a look of pure, sad relief on Lee Byung-hun’s face—is considered by many critics (including those at ScreenAnarchy and The Korean Film Council ) to be the best ending of any crime film since The Usual Suspects . It asks a terrifying question: If you wear a mask for eight years, is there a face left underneath?

Martin Scorsese, who executive produced the American remake of The Departed , reportedly tried to acquire the rights for an English remake of New World , but negotiations stalled. It is just as well; many argue that Americanizing this film would lose its specific Korean flavor of Han (a collective feeling of sorrow and resentment).