Imagine you’re walking down the street. It can be any street––even one you know! How relaxing! So, while you’re peacefully perambulating, you witness a child being slapped by a grown man. Repeatedly. How shocking! You’re beginning to think to yourself, “Man, I really dislike this slapper fellow” and suddenly, from out of nowhere, another man slaps the slapper. Then sets him on fire. How satisfying! This is pretty much everything you will get from The Man from Nowhere.
With a story in the vein of Man on Fire, Drive and Taxi Driver, the film is about a broody and reclusive pawn shop owner, Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin) whose mysterious and violent past keeps him disconnected from the outside world. The only connection he tolerates is So-mi, the adorably precocious and neglected daughter of Tae-sik’s heroin addicted single mother neighbor. When this heroin addicted mother steals some heroin from angry gangsters, hides it at the pawn shop and then gets kidnapped (along with her daughter) Tae-sik has no choice but to get involved. And oh ho ho, does he get involved (He kicks some ass is what I mean by those italics).
It’s all very rousing to the point where viewers will be shouting “ha!” at the screen or possibly visiting their next door neighbor to provide a poorly constructed explanation of the bad-assery they just witnessed. Writer-director Lee Jeong-beom captures that “one man versus everyone” appeal as well as rising tension with the Big Boss-esque “I-vow-never-to-fight-again-unless-absolutely-necessary” angle. When the intensity boils to a brim from the many stylish stand-off moments, Lee lets it explode into satisfyingly choreographed martial arts action sequences captured beautifully with a slick yet bleak visual palette and some very memorable camera work. It’s simple and enjoyable at such a primal level that most viewers will just want to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of their minds that they are being manipulated by all the child abuse being perpetuated or insinuated on-screen. Whether it be So-mi’s excessively depressing dialogue about her home life or the dismal glimpses of children being used in the drug trade, the film sometimes goes well beyond what is required to make the villains villainous and the hero righteous, especially when we were on Tae-sik’s side within the film’s first 10 minutes.
This manipulation, however, does give the generally conventional pic one rather unique twist. Most of the similar films in the genre like Man on Fire, Drive and Taxi Driver depict scenarios where a hero must take matters into their own hands and work outside of an ineffective system in order to do some real good and initiate change. Whether it was Lee’s intention or not, Tae-sik does the opposite here. Though he has incredible physical abilities and intelligence, the film is structured so it constantly feels as if he’s being manipulated, whether it be by his superiors from his shadowy past, the drug dealers he’s currently fighting, the police he’s running from, the little girl he’s trying to rescue or even Lee Jeong-beom and his writing. Because So-mi’s lines and the mistreatment of children both feel a bit heavy-handed and manipulative, it changes our perspective on poor Tae-sik, who, of course, has no choice but to selflessly avenge these ridiculous wrongs. The way the circumstances are presented, it feels less like he’s boldly coming out of isolation to live life on his own terms and more like he’s tragically at the mercy of a number of parties manipulating him out of isolation.
Still, despite this victimization, Won Bin has managed to come a long way since his younger brother role in 2004’s Taegukgi and proves he has the ability to be a successful and intimidating leading man. He wears the broody hair that covers his tortured eyes well and he’s convincingly cool enough to not even need to brush it out of the way. The film’s emotion and drama is propelled by his awkward chemistry with Kim Sae-ron’s So-mi and they both handle it rather effectively. The cast is rounded out well with a number of distinctive villains from two gang leader brothers––the calm Man-seok (Kim Hee-won) and the eccentric Jong-seok (Kim Sung-o)––to their enforcer Ramrowan (Thanayong Wongtrakul) who admiringly stares at Tae-sik and seems to want to do all that 80’s Hong Kong masculine bonding if only Tae-sik would return his glances.
In fact, part of the film does feel like it’s hitting that broad-stroked, unabashed melodrama of 80’s Hong Kong action, but other parts feel like it’s trying to rise above it without presenting any more complexity. In the end, The Man from Nowhere is a fun ride that’s hard to actively dislike, so it’s not too surprising that it was the highest grossing film of 2010. I mean, anyone who hated it must support child abuse or something.
Reviewed by Tarun
