The City of Violence

The City of Violence (lit. "Partner" or "Pal") 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

 * Ryoo Seung-wan ... Yoo Suk-hwan
 * Kim Shi-hoo ... Yoo Suk-hwan (young)
 * Jung Doo-hong ... Jung Tae-soo
 * On Joo-wan ... Jung Tae-soo (young)
 * Lee Beom-soo ... Jang Pil-ho
 * Kim Dong-young ... Jang Pil-ho (young)
 * Jung Suk-yong ... Yoo Dong-hwan
 * Park Young-seo ... Yoo Dong-hwan (young)
 * Lee Joo-shil ... Yoo Suk-hwan's mother
 * Ahn Gil-kang ... Oh Wang-jae
 * Jung Woo ... Oh Wang-jae (young)
 * Kim Byeong-ok ... Youth president
 * Kim Seo-hyung ... Jang Mi-ran
 * Jo Deok-hyun ... Boss Jo
 * Kim Gi-cheon ... Sal-soo
 * Kim Kkot-bi ... high school girl with razor blade
 * Kim Su-hyeon ... Seoul detective
 * Im Jun-il ... Team leader Im
 * Lee Na-ri ... Miss Bae
 * Park Ji-hwan ... teen gang boss
 * Lee Hong-pyo ... Onsung area cop
 * Oh Joo-hee ... hanbok-wearing woman in special room 2
 * Kim Hyo-sun ... secretary

Awards and nominations
2006 Chunsa Film Art Awards
 * Best Supporting Actor - Lee Beom-soo

2006 Busan Film Critics Awards
 * Best Cinematography - Kim Yeong-cheol

2006 Blue Dragon Film Awards
 * Nomination - Best Supporting Actor - Lee Beom-soo

2006 Korean Film Awards
 * Best Supporting Actor - Lee Beom-soo
 * Nomination - Best Editing - Nam Na-yeong
 * Nomination - Best Music - Bang Jun-seok
 * Nomination - Best Sound - Seo Yeong-jun, Jo Min-ho

2007 Grand Bell Awards
 * Nomination - Best Director - Ryoo Seung-wan
 * Nomination - Best Supporting Actor - Lee Beom-soo
 * Nomination - Best Cinematography - Kim Yeong-cheol
 * Nomination - Best Editing - Nam Na-yeong