Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang… bang. Six gunshots rang out inside the National Theater of Korea on Aug. 15, 1974.
"Assassin(s)" drops the audience into that August scene from its opening moment. The setting is the National Theater, where the 29th anniversary of Korea's liberation was being marked. In an unprecedented incident broadcast live to the entire nation, the first lady is shot. The film takes this documented historical event as its starting point and digs into the questions the official record never answered and the gaps that were erased.
The film travels back to 1974 like a time machine. An old house that appears to be a converted hanok, vegetables planted in the front yard, worn alleyways, cars produced at the time, buildings and shops — the landscape of the 1970s survives intact across every frame. The costumes and hairstyles, the furniture inside the house, the office fixtures and even the smallest props are all filled in to match the era. The result is a cinematic experience that feels like a 1970s history museum come to life, so immersive that it is hard to look away from beginning to end. Having transported the audience to 1974, the film then turns in earnest to the mystery of the gunshots that rang out at the National Theater that day.
At the center of the film are Cheol-gu (Yoo Hae-jin), the detective who was on the scene; Jae-hwan (Park Hae-il), the social affairs editor of the Dongsung Ilbo who watches the case from the other side; and Han Young-il (Lee Min-ho), a rookie reporter who witnessed the chaos of that day firsthand. The story unfolds through the eyes of Cheol-gu, a detective who carries out his assignment faithfully, and the plot that follows the reporters chasing the truth gains persuasive force. It awakens a sense of why the truth matters and what the power of truth is, and draws the audience in.
Six shots were fired, but only four bullets were recovered. Between the officially announced investigation findings and the actual circumstances lies a gap that goes unexplained. It is precisely in that "gap in history" that the film begins its story.
"Assassin(s)" does not stop at replaying a historical event whose ending is already known. How many shots were there, where did the missing bullets go, what were the circumstances surrounding the case — the film pursues each question through the eyes of a detective and reporters. Each time a new fact emerges, a new character appears, and the moment one question is resolved, another arises. The audience naturally follows along, wondering what will be revealed next, unable to release the tension or look away.
The process by which suspicions and truths unfold one after another is the work's virtue. Director Hur Jin-ho has folded the genre pleasures of mystery into a delicate gaze on a historical event. The direction stands out for tilting toward neither artistry nor mass appeal, instead interlocking the two with precision. The narrative tangled up in the mystery of a historical event that could easily have been driven roughly, and the plot that unravels it, are fluid and elegant. Hur, who has built a career on delicate and lyrical work, is said to have fully revealed here a talent for taut thriller direction that he had kept hidden until now.
Across the 131-minute running time, everything from the full account of the case to the characters' arcs generates taut tension without showing a slack moment. Nor has Hur's characteristic delicacy been discarded in service of genre pleasures. Rather than ratcheting up tension through provocative means, he builds up characters and situations calmly. That, according to reviewers, is what has given a refined aura to a thriller built around the shooting of a first lady — an event that could easily have turned coarse and overheated. Another strength is that while handling a weighty historical event, the film secures mass appeal by letting the audience follow the investigation without difficulty.
The small moments of laughter delivered by Cheol-gu's family also breathe life into the film. When Cheol-gu's wife rubs cream on his face and says, "You could take a new bride looking like that," he answers with a laugh, and when she follows up with, "Shall I play matchmaker for you?" the chemistry of an old married couple draws laughter naturally. In a film dealing with a heavy case, such glimpses of the characters' daily lives make Cheol-gu feel more familiar while briefly easing the tension of the drama.
Special appearances and a relay of small roles from well-known actors — Oh Jung-se, Park Hae-joon, Shim Eun-kyung, Jung Woo-sung, Shin Hyun-been, Im Won-hee, Yoo Yeon-seok, Park Sung-hoon, Ryu Kyung-soo, Bae Sung-woo and Oh Dal-su — further raise the pleasure of watching. This is the first time top-tier actors have appeared in such a relay, which is read as a reflection of the high trust the actors place in the project.
The question the film ultimately poses does not stop at who was behind it. It moves closer to the people who set out to learn the truth. Cheol-gu doubts the circumstances he witnessed; Jae-hwan tries to write his story despite censorship and pressure. Young-il, too, moves to confirm what he saw. The focus falls less on the enormity of the event itself than on the story of the people who would not stop asking questions about it.
Jae-hwan, played by Park Hae-il, is the character who most clearly embodies the film's message. His determination to record the truth despite relentless censorship and pressure does not remain confined to 1974. It asks today's audience, too, why an attitude of continually questioning and verifying what is factual matters.
Another strength of "Assassin(s)" is its reach across generations. With whether a film can be watched together by different generations having emerged as an important factor in box office success at local theaters recently, the film is seen as especially suited to the Chuseok holiday, when families gather.
For middle-aged and older viewers who lived through the 1970s, the film's scenery and events may serve as a trigger for their own memories. Audiences who remember the period may find themselves drawing out stories from those years as they watch the era recreated on screen. For younger generations unfamiliar with the events of 1974, meanwhile, it becomes a chance to encounter unfamiliar history anew through the mystery thriller genre.
Watching the same film, the parents' generation may say, "This is how it was back then," while the children's generation may ask why such a thing happened. A single film can become a space for dialogue linking memory and questions across generations. Its significance in the Chuseok theater season lies not simply in being a film the whole family can watch without trouble, but in the fact that different generations can watch the same film and each bring out their own stories.
In the end, the film revives the air and atmosphere of 1974 on screen and poses questions to those who lived through the era and those who know little about it alike. Follow the gaps in history, and what you eventually meet is not only who was behind the event, but the faces of those who wanted to know the truth. Opens on the 23rd. Rated 12 and over. 131 minutes.
