GITTES, a private eye from Chinatown (1974), finds himself slipping into a mystery after years of working on “petty” cases like catching loves red-handed cheating. A similarity is found with HONG Jin Ho, the detective from Private Eye (2009), who is unknowingly getting involved in a complicated, mega-scale conspiracy despite his specialty in taking pictures of women having an affair. Jin Ho is consulted by Gwang Su, a medical student, who wants him to track down a criminal in a murder case, and is promised a handsome reward. (Gwang Su discovers a cadaver of his anatomy lab is the missing son of the internal minister, and fears suspicion from the authorities.) The two launches an investigation with the help of PARK Sun Deok, a talented lady inventor. Intriguing — why? GITTES meets late Joseon period, for one, a very new approach for Korean detective fares. Also, the main character exudes a strange charm: he is your regular snob all right, but is an adventurer by nature, a loner who somehow doesn’t really belong to his time. He shares certain qualities with predecessors like GITTES, BOND, and BOURNE. No doubt this detective story-action thriller cross-over is so entertaining, with its breathless chase scenes and actions. (HONG Sung Nam)