Line #7 Film/TheChaser


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-chaser-11_2741.jpg]]
2
3	''The Chaser'' is a South Korean [[FilmNoir neo-noir]] thriller released in 2008 directed by Na Hong-jin.
4
5	Joong-ho is a dirty detective-turned pimp. When his girls begin to go missing, he assumes that they are being sold by another customer. After using his skills to track him down, he is brought to the police only to discover that the man, Young-min, is instead a sadistic murderer and has been killing his girls. To make matters worse, the police have to let him go after twelve hours if no evidence can be found and Young-min claims that he is holding one of Joong-ho's girls, Mi-jin, captive. Can Joong-ho find evidence in time to bring Young-min to justice and rescue Mi-jin?
6
7	Set to be remade by the people who brought you ''Film/TheDeparted''. Not to be confused with ''Series/TheChase''.
8	----
9	!!This movie contain examples of the following tropes:
10
11	* AntiHero: Joong-ho is of the Type III variety. He's a pimp, not a particularly nice guy and treats his prostitutes poorly. Still by the end of the film it's clear he's become emotionally invested in saving Mi-jin and comes to care for her daughter.
12	* BasedOnATrueStory: Young-min is based off of real-life Korean serial killer Yoo Young-chul (who was a [[ImAHumanitarian cannibal]] in addition to being a killer).
13	* BigBad: Young-min, a SerialKiller who targets Mi-jin and goes against her boss, Joong-ho.
14	* BittersweetEnding: Crossing almost in DownerEnding. [[spoiler:Young-min is brought to justice but not before bludgeoning Mi-jin to death just after she manages to escape his lair. The end of the film implies that Joong-ho will look after Mi-jin's daughter.]]
15	* BlackAndGrayMorality: The protagonist is a JerkAss pimp, and apparently an ex DirtyCop, but he looks A LOT better in contrast to a sadistic serial killer.
16	* BoundAndGagged: Mi-jin spends half of the film in this predicament.
17	* CombatPragmatism: The fights in this movie definitively avert AllAsiansKnowMartialArts.
18	* ContrivedCoincidence: Invoked as the reason why the police end up releasing Young-Min the first time around. An angry man threw shit at the Seoul's mayor face which, combined with the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that Joong-Ho submitted to Young-Min several times while he was in custody, would make it look like the police are trying to save face for not avoiding the almost first incident by imprisoning an innocent man so the headlines are changed.
19	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Mi-jin's death is ''extremely'' gut-wrenching, and basically every other victim of Young-min, even the poor dog.]]
20	* CurbstompBattle: Joong-ho vs Young-min, Round 1. [[spoiler:Round 2 is not so easy.]]
21	* DramaticIrony: [[spoiler:The audience is all too aware that Young Min is himself the neighbourhood lunatic that the shop keeper wants him to protect Mi-jin from.]]
22	* DirtyCop: Why Joong-ho is no more a cop. He implies that there's still corrupt ones that weren't caught along him.
23	* EgocentricallyReligious: Young Min, maybe. See FreudianExcuse.
24	* GoryDiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Young-min's bludgeoning of Mi-jin is offscreen.]]
25	* FauxAffablyEvil: Young-min acts like a normal, even a bit slow, kind of guy, but the gloves come off at a moment's notice if he needs them to.
26	* FreudianExcuse: The movie implies that this is played straight initially but it could be subverted:
27	** An interrogator guesses that Young-min is sexually impotent and kills victims with a chisel as a penis substitute. Young-min himself angrily denies that's the reason.
28	** However, [[spoiler:it is later discovered he worked in the expansion of a Christian church, where he buries his bodies. That, combined with the method he uses, could imply he's some kind of KnightTemplar killing prostitutes because he thinks they're sinful and deserve to be "crucified". That's without counting the religious drawings.]]
29	* GolfClubbing: Young-min wields a golf club in the final fight.
30	* HopeSpot: A particularly excruciating example. [[spoiler: After spending the bulk of the film bound and gagged, Mi-jin finally frees herself and makes it to a nearby store, where the store owner hides her. However, when Young-min arrives at the store, the owner unwittingly gives Mi-jin away. This results in Young-min murdering both the owner and Mi-jin.]]
31	* IShallTauntYou:[[spoiler: How Joong-Ho escapes police's custody.]]
32	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Desconstructed. The police don't manages to obtain enough evidence to initiate a process, letting the culprit free without charges, and decides to use Joong-Ho as TheScapegoat.
33	* MoralityPet: Mi-jin's daughter serves as this for Joong-ho.
34	* PoliceAreUseless: In a technicality; Joong-Ho is an ex-cop and more competent than the ones still on the profession. They also fight between themselves because of the reputation in capturing a serial killer would bring. And their own reputation is tarnished and prejudice the investigations because of an incident involving Seoul's mayor, see above.
35	* TheQuietOne: Mi-jin's daughter. [[spoiler:She breaks when she thinks her mother is dead. We never see her reaction when she discovers her mother died for real.]]
36	* TheScapegoat: Joong-ho is arrested because of the JackBauerInterrogationtechnique he submitted Young-Min to so the police can save face after not obtaining proof of the crimes of the latter.
37	* SerialKiller: Young-Min. He hires prostitutes and kills them using a chisel, and then buries her bodies [[spoiler: on church grounds.]] He's also not above killing everyone and everything else that he perceives as a threat.

Context Film / TheChaser