Phantom Detective/탐정 홍길동: 사라진 마을/Tamjeong Honggildong: Sarajin Maeul

Noir like you've never seen it before.

Ok, so I wasn't expecting the movie to start with the "hero" threatening to blow two men's heads off if they didn't cut the fingers off of a third. It's not my usual movie type. But it plays out with a deliciously understated sense of grandiosity, as if saying Yes, We Are Dark And Scary And Oh, So Dangerous, But We're Also Not Taking Ourselves Seriously, So Please Just Come Along For The Ride.
And what a fun ride.

From the main character's sleight of hand and hypnotically smooth voice to the delightful way the youngest granddaughter of his enemy promptly yells at him and destroys all illusion of his abilities, it continues with, to quote a favorite author, the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.

Whether he's slamming a chest-lid on top of a body or getting the car door swung into him by the granddaughters he's unable to keep in hand, Lee Je-Hoon plays Hong Gil-Dong with a sense of exasperation at the world in general. From claiming goosebumps at their hand-holding to literally facepalming at their deal-breaking interruptions, his attitude clashing against the two small girls he basically kidnaps is hilarious, yet mixed with pathos as they comment with shock on his many lies, and he insists yet again that he is not a good guy, guilt building in him as the movie progresses.

 

Who is Hong Gil-Dong if not a good guy? A member of a secret and illegal detective agency who has spent his entire life searching for the person who killed his mother and the reason why she was killed. Every other mystery he solves easily, but the one that haunts him is unsolvable...until the day he finally finds a clue as to the location of his mother's killer. To his great disappointment he finds only the killer's two granddaughters, as someone else has made it to the killer first--another secret and illegal organization known as Gwangeunhwe. His promise to find their grandfather for them reeks of ulterior motives, but the children have nowhere else to turn, and so follow him on his search, entirely unaware of his true plan.

What follows is a strangely delightful cross between a babysitting job and revenge mission, as Gil-Dong ends up dragging two small children along into a mess greater than he ever dreamed. The historical implications and connections to a disaster currently in the making narrow around him as he persists in his mission, despite any obstacles thrown into his way by Gwangeunhwe.



The older granddaughter, Dong Yi, does her best to protect her sister and find her grandfather (and pay for their hotel when Gil-Dong runs out of money), while the suspicious, delightful, adorable youngest granddaughter Mal-Soon is a delight to watch, especially each time she clashes with Gil-Dong or calls him out on his lack of morals.

There are a few other intriguing characters...

His adoptive sister {Go Ara}, president of that illegal detective agency.

Kim Byeong-Duk {Park Geun-hyung}, the missing grandfather, killer of Gil-Dong's mother, and possible linchpin in a coming disaster.

Kang Sung-il {Kim Sung-kyun}, Hong Gil-Dong's current nemesis...

There is minimal swearing, and I don't recall any other issues beyond slightly comic-book-style violence (lotssss of shooting and stabbing and getting thrown across rooms, etc) and some creepy nightmares that torment Gil-Dong. The politics did feel a little vague -- whether that was the fault of the movie or the fault of the subtitles I had access to, I'm not entirely sure. The soundtrack was just right...not overbearing, but the kind that you notice fits the story. There was a lot of green-screen, but I liked the effect. XD If you're looking for a twist on the classic detective story and want to try a Korean movie, especially if you enjoy adorable children and over-the-top fight scenes,  Phantom Detective is a great one to try.