re:mote voices

Title: Another Public Enemy [AKA Public Enemy 2 ]
Cast: Sul Kyung-Ku, Jeong Joon-Ho, Kang Shin-Il, Eom Tae-Woong, Byeon Hee-Bong, Jeong Gyoo-Soo, Lee Moon-Sik, Yoo Hae-Jin
Director: Kang Woo-Suk

Public Enemy was included in the first Asia Extreme season put on in 2003 by Tartan and then UGC (now Cineworld), and was one of the few that I missed that year. It wasn’t one I particularly fancied, and while I intended to catch it, I never really got round to it. Of the 6 films selected for Asia Extreme 2005, Another Public Enemy was the one I fancied the least, given the season trailer that was being shown. However this year the films have been shown in two sets of three, with Another Public Enemy falling slap bang between the two films I wanted to see the most.

Given the Korean title that goes up at the film, I would have expected the translation to have been more like Public Enemy 2 rather than the clunky Another Public Enemy. Though having not seen Public Enemy it is hard to say to what degree this works as a sequel to the original. Kang and Han were in school together, where Kang learnt life’s hard lessons about power and wealth, thanks to the way that Han could do anything, but thanks to his background never got into trouble. It was this that led Kang to becoming a Prosecutor. When Han’s father and brother have accidents that suddenly put Han in charge of billions of won, Kang becomes suspicious. Is he being driven by school boy spite or is Han really guilty of murder, blackmail, and a list of other crimes?

Another Public Enemy follows the rivalry between Kang and Han, Han developing his master plan, while Kang tries to piece together enough evidence to stop him. Another Public Enemy is a Korean crime drama, though it recalls the kind of film that Hong Kong did in abundance – Infernal Affairs and Island Of Greed being just two examples that spring readily to mind. With that, my expectations for the film were fairly low, projecting a fairly run of the mill piece. Instead Another Public Enemy has a little bit more than that.

The film packs a punch at the start to catch the viewer’s attention. Going from gang fights between rival schools involving Kang and Han, to a police raid lead by Prosecutor Kang against a criminal gang – both having a certain kinetic impact, lots of people and lots of action. The film slows down from there, switching from fast moving, to concentrate on the plot. With that the dialogue keeps the film moving along, the relationship between Kang and his boss and the rest of his team has a warmth and banter that gives the film an unusual depth.

At over 2 hours Another Public Enemy is perhaps over long, which can be a difficult sell. The film perhaps drags a little at times, with the to and fro of Kang and Han taking the lead in terms of advantage, and Kang becoming increasingly frustrated and losing it. For the most part I was surprised to find I enjoyed Another Public Enemy – the characters and direction bringing out the best from a familiar set up – though being a little shorter would certainly have helped.