The City of Violence is a 2006 South Korean action thriller film co-written and directed by Ryoo Seung-wan, who stars in the film opposite action director and longtime collaborator Jung Doo-hong.

Plot

Wang-jae is an ex-gangster who chases a gang of punks into an alley where he is fatally stabbed to death. His four childhood friends reunite in nearly 20 years at Wang-jae's funeral. Up to then, each person has gone their own way: Tae-su became a Seoul police detective. Pil-ho has taken over his brother-in-law Wang-jae's business. Seok-hwan works as a debt collector while his older brother Dong-hwan struggles as a mathematics professor. After the funeral, Tae-su decides to investigate the murder within a week before he would return to his job in Seoul. Meanwhile, Seok-hwan decides to find and kill Wang-jae's murderers. While investigating, Tae-su is attacked by youth gangs, where he barely escapes with his life after Seok-hwan's unexpected arrival. They decide to work together. After hunting the gangs, they discover Wang-jae's death is not a random mindless attack, but was a planned murder. The revelation leads them to Dong-hwan, who confesses that Pil-ho was behind the plan after Wang-jae disapproved Pil-ho's plans to turn their city into a tourist district. After strangers tried to kill him as part of tying up Pil-ho's loose ends, Wang-jae's young murderer agrees to testify against Pil-ho. A killer douses the young murderer in gasoline and sets him on fire. Later, Pil-ho badly thrashes Tae-su and also targets to finish Seok-hwan, Dong-hwan and their mother in an accident, but Seok-wan survives. After Dong-hwan and his mother's funeral, Seok-hwan and Wang-jae's widow leave the funeral house and sees Tae-su waiting outside. Tae-su persuades Wang-jae's widow into revealing information on her brother Pil-ho's whereabouts. Tae-su and Seok-hwan storm Pil-ho's fortress where they fight their way through swarms of armed cooks and bodyguards until the banquet room. Meanwhile, Pil-ho kills the Seoul president, which prompts all guests to leave. Tae-su and Seok-hwan confronts Pil-ho, who is along with his four elite guards in the room. A fight ensues where Tae-su and Seok-hwan manages to defeat Pil-ho's elite guards and sets to take on Pil-ho, who takes them by surprise by attacking Seok-hwan. Pil-ho turns and stabs Tae-su, but Seok-hwan later finishes Pil-ho with a katana. As Tae-su bleeds to death, an exhausted Seok-hwan notices the carnage that he and Tae-su had created and sighs heavily.

Cast

Awards and nominations

2006 Chunsa Film Art Awards 2006 Busan Film Critics Awards 2006 Blue Dragon Film Awards 2006 Korean Film Awards 2007 Grand Bell Awards