The Man From Nowhere

Korea, Hong-Kong and Japan have been outperforming Hollywood for decades now. Great storytelling, real character development, surprising mixture of genres, hair-raising action scenes, amazing acting, top technical level This movie has the best of all that. Gloriuous image in Dolby Vision and proper Dolby Atmos without preposterous, unnecessary exaggerations (unlike Hollywood ridiculous bombastic movies). This is pure cinematic joy!

The 2010 Korean blockbuster and award winning film Ajusshi (international title: The Man From Nowhere) is a dark, violent and thrilling film that, maybe unexpectedly, contains a big amount of heart and sincerity. The film starts off brisk and even at a runtime of almost two hours, Ajusshi/The Man From Nowhere moves quickly through punch after punch. Won Bin helps make the two hours pass by quickly with his reserved portrayal of a lonely man quietly holding in his painful past. You immediately connect with him and with his friendship with neighbor, the little So Mi. Kim Sae Ron is a fresh little talent that also equally gets you to care about her character right off the bat. The film is definitely not for the faint of heart. It has a dark, grimy, seedy backdrop of the drug and human trade in Asia. The rage and vengeance that grows in Tae-sik as the movie rolls along adds even more to that foreboding and often bloody atmosphere. But that’s what makes the unexpected heart and sincerity all the more, well, unexpected. You’ve got to have a deft hand to be able to balance what would appear to be such contrasting themes, to have such a hopeful and touching undercurrent run through a film set in the midst of drugs and violence. But writer and director Lee Jeong-beom does just that. The excellent cinematography, most especially in a scene where the camera is step by step with Tae-sik as he jumps out of a window and lands right on the ground below, resonates to give the film its gritty essence. An excellently shot and well choreographed knife fight is also a highlight (and the bloodiest) of the film. Ajusshi/The Man From Nowhere has thrilling chases, exciting fight and action scenes, juicy and affecting twists and that heart-tugging sincerity that just explodes at you in the film’s final scenes. It only takes one little flashback to help you understand the friendship Tae-sik has with So Mi and what compels him to go to great and bloody lengths to save her. Never have I shed a tear at the end of a bloody action thriller that isn’t about a war. And I’m not afraid to admit that. The final scenes in particular were some of the best MaGMCs (Make a Grown Man Cry Moments) I have ever seen. And that is a testament to the writing, directing, and the stellar performances from Won Bin and Kim Sae Ron. I dare anyone not to feel a little tug on their heartstrings at the end of the film. Ajusshi/The Man From Nowhere is a completely satisfying and thrilling ride through revenge and hope and it is clear to see why so many people absolutely loved this film.

This a great play on a classic concept of a lonely man trying to get through life without really living it. His only friend in the world is a little neighbor girl who is talkative to his silence, upbeat to his lonely, sweet to his bitter. The girl who plays the character is completely charming and adorable. When she is kidnapped he makes it his personal mission to find her. When they try to kill him and leave her dead mother in the trunk of a car they were trying to frame him with he shifts his mission to destroy them all. We've seen great fights scenes, and this one is right up there. Not exactly The Transporter, but excellent. The one truly defining and memorable part of this movie is the knife fight scene towards the end of this movie. There is a Vietnamese assassin who is a bit off, he's savage and cruel but he also has a certain sense of honor and appreciation for warriors. He recognizes our hero as a warrior and goes out of his way to antagonize him. Making him fight him in a breathtakingly fast knife fight. It's brutal in a beautiful kind of way. All I can think about during that scene is how in awe the assassin is. He is the one who spares the little girl's life, but he pretends cruelty to her dead body parts (the hero was given 'her' eyes because he killed the bad guy's brother) so our hero will fight him. The guy has maybe five lines, but his thoughtful expressions speak volumnes. Actually the hero has very few lines too even though he's in 90% of the scenes. I saw this movie first on Netflix but had to add it to my personal movie library. It never gets old and everytime they're reunited at the end I cry (consider this your official notice about the 'hug' - because it is much more emotional than a hug). Great movie. I blame The Man from Nowhere for my newfound love of Korean movies.

The film takes us into the dark side of humanity and its unfailing limits. The protagonist punishes those who committ horrendous crimes. That part was entertaining. The action sequences were good, but not great. The title of this movie is not the same as the Korean original. Why? The "Man from Nowhere" doesn't come remotely close to the true title of this film. Lame. The real title is "Ah Juh Ssi", which literally means "Uncle" but could be applied to any gentleman who is older. The dialogues of the child character was too sophisticated. I don't know any 10-11 year olds who say "you are the only person I like and I can't hate you because if I do I would dislike the only person I care about...". But maybe I am wrong here. I do not recommend this film to kids under 14 mainly because of violence. Overall this is a good film. But it isn't a special film that makes you think or care deeply about the characters and their psyche.

Ich finde man bekommt was man kauft. Nicht die größte Story aber ganz nette Action und gute Qualität der Aufnahmen.

This movie is absolutely brilliant, seriously the rest of the reviews must be talkin about the wrong movie if they rate it less than a five. As a big fan of South Korean movies I always tend to know which ones are good and which ones are rubbish. The Man from Nowhere is an amazing movie with an amazing plot. Yes SOME of the storyline is borrowed from the movie 'Taken' but this movie is a million times better with much more action. Won Bin is an amazing actor, and this movie portrays how great he is perfectly. He sticks to the role well, and I am sure he is the reason this movie is such a big success. I don't want to give away anything like the other reviews have, but if you love South Korean movies, and you love movies that have great action scenes you should buy this. The fight scene at the end of the movie is breathtaking, and if an action movie found a way to make me cry, then you know it's gonna be great. Don't doubt yourself, watch this movie!!

This is just an outstanding movie. Terrific cast with the two leads were literally home runs in casting. A new benchmark was created with this movie; with Won Bin doing MANY of the stunts and choreographed fight scenes (including jumping out of windows and off buildings). You do not get the depth of production with American film like this anymore -- so it is quite an experience to watch a movie that is not made from the cookie cutter production machine that is like junk food for the addicted movie goer's brain to get a buzz off of (or so it seems). It comes with a good amount of extra's and has been copied in North American and other places to horrible results (putting in local actors and bending it for that mass consumption -- is Hollywood and Bollywood getting actually fearful of letting their client's consume the "real thing" for fear they will realize it has been an endless stream of junk they have put out year after year? In any case this is an outstanding storyline -- complex and compelling. Very violent and real as they say. It would have been almost too much for even myself -- except for the OUTSTANDING CHARACTERS and how they change and develop. I would be almost too worried about the violence but those characters would come out to add so my emotion and so on to it .. well it made the context of the story work as now balanced and watchable for most people. Terrific songs in it as well. .. Highly recommended.

Arrived within expected time. Was still in its plastic wrap. Worked no worries on our multizone DVD player.

Fan de films asiatiques, j'avais cependant des "a priori" sur le cinéma coréen qui ne m'avait pas emballé jusqu'à présent à l'exception des films de BONG Joon-Ho. The Man From Nowhere m'a réconcilié avec celui-ci. Il y a en effet des films qu'on prend plaisir à regarder sur le moment et d'autres qui vous laissent une empreinte marquante et vous bouleversent au plus profond de vous-même.The Man From Nowhere fait partie de ces films qui ne vous lâchent plus. C'est un film époustouflant, sordide et émouvant tout à la fois grâce à la performance de ses acteurs principaux Won Bin et Kim Sae-Ron. Sordide parce-qu'il évoque sans équivoque les trafics en tous genres que mènent les triades à savoir, stupéfiants, cartes bancaires, organes et exploitation des enfants où tout se vend et s'achète au mépris de la vie humaine. Emouvant parce qu'il s'agit de l'histoire d'une petite fille délaissée par sa mère junkie, livrée à elle-même, à la recherche d'une figure paternelle qui trouve en son voisin meurtri par un épisode tragique dans sa vie, quelqu'un à aimer. Ces deux êtres qui souffrent intérieurement vont trouver l'un grâce à l'autre la force de surmonter les épreuves et de laisser enfin éclater leurs émotions. L'ensemble est porté par une musique entraînante qui ponctue les scènes d'action dont la BOF n'est malheureusement pas distribuée en France. Un achat que je ne regrette absolument pas.