Nowhere to Hide (2000)

NOWHERE TO HIDE is a much-hyped South Korean action thriller that follows a much-used template: a dogged detective who will stop at nothing to track down a master-criminal against whom he has a personal vendetta. It's the kind of slim, pared-down storyline that's kept the thriller genre alive for the past sixty years or so and shows no signs of flagging thus far, and when played out in conjunction with Myung-se Lee's ultra-stylish direction it really should work. Sadly, though, the resulting film is hollow and superficial in the extreme: very stylish, yes, and great to look at, but ultimately unfulfilling.Myung-se Lee's problem is that he's far too interested in his cinematography and not in his own story, which doesn't really go anywhere. Lots of recent films are centred around detectives pursuing bad guys through the streets; THE CHASER, for instance, with its superlative pimp-vs-serial-killer shenanigans. But they have to have more than just action to make them work: likable characters, for one, and realism, combined with peppery dialogue. NOWHERE TO HIDE looks great, but that's all it has to say for itself.The film is a jumble of frenzied editing ranging from extreme slow motion, missing images, fast cuts, freeze frames and plenty more. Combined with a pumping soundtrack and a great use of colour, it's a fascinating visual experience. But the dickhead detective and the sullen criminals he pursues through the back streets are singularly uninteresting and the various chase sequences quickly become repetitive. By the end, there's enough material to have ably filled a ten-minute short; but at a two-hour run time, it's just too little to sustain the interest. In the end, NOWHERE TO HIDE is a missed opportunity.

I saw a trailer on an obscure DVD (don't remember which though) half a year ago. The trailer made use of the Bee Gee's song that's in two of the scenes in the movie. Then I read most of this IMDb comments.A month ago I found the DVD (I'm always searching secondhand stores) and yesterday I put in in my DVD-player. Watched the trailer on the DVD again. It was a different one. Not as catchy as the one I saw earlier that made me want to see (want to have) this film. Then I watched the opening scene/titles and the 40 steps scene. My wife and I where about to start watching another film (Wanted, 2008). I asked for her patience and showed her the 40 steps scene first. She agreed with me that that was a beautiful scene and she was positively surprised by it hypnotic style. Then we watched Wanted. (Which had cool special effects but didn't convince me in any way: could have skipped that one...) Half an hour ago I finished watching Nowhere to Hide.I think it is a fascinating movie. Storywise it's not very deep or wide, but that's alright with me. The acting, the photography, the directing and so forth I find very very good. The 40 steps scene reminded me very much of the better Miami Vice (televisionseries) episodes: music framing something horrible, continuing through the whole scene (not fading right after the dramatic climax, but going on for minutes and breathing out inevitability).Now (while writing) I am playing the movie again.One could say I really like it. I agree with most of the very enthusiastic reactions I read on IMDb.

Nowhere to hide has to be one of the most perfectly made cop/villain thrillers i have ever seen. The movie has such a a great, yet tense feel to it and is so determined to blow the audiences minds away. The groundbreaking camera-work, beautiful cinematography, tense and violent action (featuring some of the coolest fight scenes i have ever seen) and a to die for soundtrack make this film in my opinion one of the greatest cop thrillers that has been made today. Laying right up there with 'Heat' and 'Infernal Affairs'. This film i think is not only a must see for Asian extreme fans, but for any one a fan of thrillers. 9 out of 10.

"Nowhere To Hide" is absolutely one of the most visually stunning movies I've ever seen. Every scene is a cinematographic masterpiece. Myung-se Lee is a master of effectively using "particle storms" ... falling leaves, rain, snow, flowing sheets. Iparticularly like the ways he use contrast, high and low. While Lee uses high contrast, black & white scenes and low contrast, grainy shots, I like the contrast between scenes. I like the high contrast between innocent scene (falling leaves and the little girl hopping down the stairs) and violent scene that follows (hard rain and murder on the very same stairs). He effectively use low contrast between the good guys and the bad guys. Detective Woo's father told him, "If you don't want to become a gangster, you need to become a cop. This is a MUST SEE movie.