| New World | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 신세계 |
| Hanja | 新世界 |
| Revised Romanization | Sinsegye |
| McCune–Reischauer | Sinsegye |
| Directed by | Park Hoon-jung |
| Written by | Park Hoon-jung |
| Produced by | Han Jae-duk Kim Hyun-woo |
| Starring | Lee Jung-jae Choi Min-sik Hwang Jung-min |
| Cinematography | Chung Chung-hoon Yu Eok |
| Edited by | Moon Se-kyung |
| Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
| Distributed by | Next Entertainment World |
Release date |
|
Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | South Korea |
| Languages | Korean, Mandarin |
| Box office | US$31.7 million[1] |
New World (Korean: 신세계;RR: Sinsegye)[2][3][4][5][6] is a 2013 South Koreanepiccrime film written and directed byPark Hoon-jung. It starsLee Jung-jae,Choi Min-sik,Hwang Jung-min, andPark Sung-woong.[7][8] In the film, Lee Ja-sung (Lee) struggles to balance his role as an undercover police officer with his rise in Korea's crime syndicate.[9][10]
Lee Ja-Sung (Lee Jung-jae) is an undercover police officer who has been working in Goldmoon International, South Korea's largest corporate crime syndicate. During his 8 years, he is constantly at risk of discovery. Chief Kang (Choi Min-sik) promises to reassign Ja-Sung to an overseas position in the police force, but he continually delays his promise. When Ja-Sung threatens to quit the police force, Chief Kang threatens to leak his true identity to the crime syndicate, which would ensure his painful death.
The chairman of Goldmoon dies in an accident, and two men fight to succeed him. Jung Chung is backed by the Chinese-descended Northmoon clan. Lee Joong-gu is backed by the Jaebum faction.
Chief Kang sets Jung and Joong-gu against each other in hopes that they will defeat each other and clear the path for Jang Su-Ki to become the new chairman. Su-ki is nominally the vice president of the company, but he has no real power. Chief Kang hopes that the Goldmoon company will be weak enough to defeat if led by the weak Su-ki. Chief Kang blackmails Jung and convinces him to leak evidence about Joong-gu in exchange for a pardon for his own crimes. After he arrests Joong-gu, he informs Joong-gu that Jung betrayed him. Enraged, Joong-gu sends his men to assassinate Jung. Joong-gu's men ambush Jung and fatally wound him. In the meantime, Joong-gu's men break into Ja-Sung's house. Ja-Sung's wife is saved by the police but suffers a miscarriage from shock.
Shattered by Jung's attack and terrified of what Joong-gu will do to him once he is released from prison, Ja-Sung begs Chief Kang to reassign him and let him disappear. Chief Kang refuses to keep his promise and destroys Ja-Sung's police profile to force him to continue to work for Goldmoon. After that Ja-Sung goes to see Jung at the hospital and, before his death, Jung tells Ja-Sung to decide his loyalty. Ja-Sung understands that Jung discovered that he is an undercover cop, but he pretends not to know because of their friendship.
With the death of his closest partner in crime, Ja-Sung decides to choose where his loyalty lies and amass power. He takes control of Jung's faction and secures the loyalty of Su-ki's men. When Su-ki attempts to have Ja-Sung executed, his men kill him instead. At Ja-Sung's bidding, his underlings murder Chief Kang, Police Director Ko, and Joong-gu. As a result, Ja-Sung's past undercover identity remains a secret while he smoothly ascends to become the new chairman of Goldmoon.
The scene cuts to 6 years in the past, when Ja-Sung and Jung started out as small-time thugs. Their friendship is evident even back then, and together they eliminate a rival gang. In the aftermath of their victory, Ja-Sung smiles for the first time.
The New York Times called the film "both less bloody and more thoughtful than most of its genre, the shifting-alliances plot becoming more engrossing as it progresses."[12]
Los Angeles Times wrote that "writer-director Park Hoon-jung tells this twisty story of internecine warfare within a Korean corporate crime syndicate with patience, elegance and no small amount of bloodshed."[13]
Salon said that "the rewards come from a satisfying plot, distinctive characters and a series of memorable showpieces, and Park handles all three demands well," and "no one inAmerican movies has made a crime opera this good in years."[14]
Film Business Asia praised it as "the best played and most gripping Korean gangster movie sinceYoo Ha'sA Dirty Carnival. [...] not only showcases three of South Korea's best actors at the top of their game but also manages to sustain its 2 and a half-hour running time on sheer character drama rather than action or violence."[15]
The film also received many negative reviews as well. David Noh fromFilm Journal wrote "There's nothing wrong with reworking films likeElection andInfernal Affairs.Scorsese won anOscar forThe Departed, his version of the latter. Sadly, Park doesn't bring anything new to the genre, apart from a lot more crane shots and one too many stoic grimaces."[16]
Linda Barnard fromThestar.com gave it 2 stars out of 4, writing "South Korean gangster filmNew World tries to expand the genre with nods toThe Godfather but can't escape the over-the-top acting, expansive violence and overdone story typical of Seoul-made crime dramas."[17]
Slant Magazine also gave it a negative review, stating "Bestowed with a somewhat novel twist, Park Hoon-jung'sNew World employs the good-guy/bad-guy power dynamic of the typical cop-gangster flick and treats it as the primary source of the story's intrigue. But the mole-imbedded gang war at the heart of this film plays out less like an organic round ofGo between cops and criminals than the elaborate scheme of one character operating like a sadistic Creator and wreaking havoc in the lives of his ants."[18]
The film scored admissions of 4.67 million,[19][20][21] with a total gross of ₩34,831,698,405 (orUS$31,212,801).[1]
After competing withDreamWorks,Paramount Pictures, andWarner Bros.,Sony Pictures picked up theremake rights, reportedly in the mid six-figure range. The production companyVertigo Entertainment will handle the project with producersRoy Lee and Dan Lin, Jon Silk and John Powers Middleton as executive producers, and Will Fetters as screenwriter.[21][22][23] The 2018Tamil movieChekka Chivantha Vaanam was reported to be the "Indianized version" of this movie owing to its similarity in plot, characterization and the narrative.[24][25]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Beaune International Thriller Film Festival | Jury Prize (Second Place) | New World | Won | |
| 49th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Hwang Jung-min | Nominated | [26][27] | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Park Sung-woong | Nominated | |||
| Best New Director | Park Hoon-jung | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Nominated | ||||
| 22nd Buil Film Awards | Best Actor | Hwang Jung-min | Won | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Park Sung-woong | Nominated | |||
| Best New Director | Park Hoon-jung | Nominated | |||
| 50th Grand Bell Awards | Best Director | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor | Hwang Jung-min | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Park Sung-woong | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay | Park Hoon-jung | Nominated | |||
| Best Lighting | Bae Il-hyuk | Nominated | |||
| Best Music | Jo Yeong-wook | Won | |||
| Best Art Direction | Cho Hwa-sung | Nominated | |||
| 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Film | New World | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Park Hoon-jung | Nominated | |||
| Best Actor | Hwang Jung-min | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Park Sung-woong | Nominated | |||
| Best Cinematography | Chung Chung-hoon, Yu Eok | Nominated | |||
| Best Lighting | Bae Il-hyuk | Nominated | |||
| Best Art Direction | Cho Hwa-sung | Nominated | |||
| 46thSitges Film Festival | Best Feature Film (Focus Asia Award) | New World | Won | [28] | |
| 2014 | 9th Max Movie Awards | Best Actor | Hwang Jung-min | Nominated | |
| 19thChunsa Film Art Awards | Nominated |