| The Hunt | |
| Director: | Lee Woo-cheol |
| Producer: | Kim Han-min |
| Screenplay: | Cheon Jin-woo |
| Starring: | Ahn Sung-ki Cho Jin-woong Han Ye-ri Kwon Yul |
| Studio: | BigStone Pictures |
| Runtime: | 93 minutes |
| Country: | South Korea |
| Language: | Korean |
The Hunt (Korean: 사냥; RR: Sanyang) is a 2016 South Korean action thriller film directed by Lee Woo-cheol, written by Cheon Jin-woo, and starring Cho Jin-woong and Ahn Sung-ki. The film was launched by Lotte Entertainment, South Korea’s second largest film conglomerate, in March 2016. It was produced by Kim Han-min, the director of , the biggest film ever at the Korean box office.[1] [2] Most of the filming for The Hunt took place in a mountainous region of Paju in Gyeonggi Province, which contains military bases; the crew had to obtain permissions from more than 10 military units prior to filming. Because of the emphasis on hunting and guns, the actors also had to finish a basic firearms course and practice at shooting ranges.[3]
When Dong-geun leads a group of armed men to mine newfound gold in a remote mountain area, the group comes into conflict with an old woman, who claims that her sons owns the land and the gold. The woman is killed during the argument; her granddaughter Kim Yang-soon and local hunter Moon Ki-sung subsequently get caught up in the conflict, with Dong-geun commanding the gold seekers to flush out the witnesses and Moon using his hunting skills to protect his neighbors. Moon, the only survivor of a mining accident that left him traumatized and isolated, often remembers the dying wish from a fellow miner to protect Yang-soon, the miner's daughter. The remainder of the story focuses on the deadly cat-and-mouse game between Moon and the gang.[3] [4] [5]
Filming began September 13, 2015 and finished December 15, 2015.[6] The film was released on June 29, 2016 and opened at number 1 at the South Korean box office on its first day, attracting more than 640,000 viewers nationwide; it dropped to number 2 at the box office on its second day.[7] [8] The film grossed $4,422,347 at the South Korea box office[9] and received mixed reviews, with the actors' performances generally receiving praise.[10] [11] Han Cinema’s William Schwartz criticized The Hunt as being “excessively complicated” due to the character relationships and the use of flashbacks.[12] South Korea’s NewsTomato praised the actors’ performances and the film’s sustained suspense, and criticized flaws in the story.[13]