Inside Men (film)

Inside Men
Inside Men
	Theatrical release poster
Hangul	내부자들
Hanja	内部者들
Revised Romanization	Naebujadeul
McCune–Reischauer	Naebujadŭl
Directed by	Woo Min-ho
Written by	Woo Min-ho
Based on	The Insiders; by Yoon Tae-ho
Produced by	Lee Min-su
Starring	Lee Byung-hun ; Cho Seung-woo ; Baek Yoon-sik
Cinematography	Go Nak-seon
Edited by	Kim Sang-bum ; Kim Jae-bum
Distributed by	Showbox
Release date	November 19, 2015;
Running time	130 minutes ; 180 minutes (director's cut)
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Box office	US$63 million

Inside Men (Korean: 내부자들; Hanja: 内部者들; RR: Naebujadeul) is a 2015 South Korean political action thriller film written and directed by Woo Min-ho based on Yoon Tae-ho's webtoon The Insiders that dissects the corruption within Korean society.^[2] Starring Lee Byung-hun, Cho Seung-woo and Baek Yoon-sik, it began filming in July 2014 and was released in theaters on November 19, 2015.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

Inside Men and the director's cut Inside Men: The Original have sold a total of 9.1 million admissions at the box office, thus becoming the top grossing R-rated movie of all-time at the South Korean box office.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]

Plot

Lee Kang-hee, an editor at an influential conservative newspaper, raises congressman Jang Pil-woo to the position of leading presidential candidate using the power of the press; behind this is his secret deal with the paper's biggest sponsor, Mirae motors.

Ahn Sang-goo, a political henchman who supported Lee and Jang, gets caught pocketing the record of the sponsor's slush fund, resulting in a dismembered hand. Woo Jang-hoon, an ambitious prosecutor, starts to investigate the relationship between Jang and the sponsor, believing that it's his only chance to make it to the top. While getting down to the brass tacks of the case, Woo meets Ahn, who has been methodically planning his revenge. The war between the one blinded with power, the one hell-bent on vengeance, and the one eager for success begins, as prosecutor Woo becomes the "inside men" to expose the dark scheme of Lee and Jang to the people.^[19]

Cast

Lee Byung-hun as Ahn Sang-goo
Cho Seung-woo as Woo Jang-hoon
Baek Yoon-sik as Lee Kang-hee
Lee Geung-young as Jang Pil- woo
Kim Hong-pa as Oh Hyun-soo
Bae Seong-woo as Park Jong-pal
Jo Jae-yoon as Section chief Bang
Kim Dae-myung as Go Sang-chul
Jo Woo-jin as Managing director Jo
Lee El as Joo Eun-hye
Jung Man-sik as Choi Choong-sik
Kim Byeong-ok as Oh Myung-hwan
Kim Eui-sung as Editor-in-chief in Joguk Ilbo
Park Jin-woo as Department head Lee
Nam Il-woo as Woo Jang-hoon's father
Kwon Hyeok-poong as Seok Myeong-gwan
Ryu Tae-ho as Moon Il-seok
Park Sang-gyoo as Kim Seok-woo
Kwon Tae-won as Song Man-seob
Jo Deok-je as Detective Choi
Park Jin-young as Member of parliament Son

Reception

On its first four days at the South Korean box office, the film grossed ₩13.2 billion.^[20] Inside Men drew more than 2 million viewers in just six days, a record for an R-rated film; it has also set the record for the most-viewed R-rated movie in a single day—489,503 viewers.^[21]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2016	52nd Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Film	Inside Men	Nominated
		Best Director	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
		Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
		Best Actor	Baek Yoon-sik	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
	25th Buil Film Awards	Best Film	Inside Men	Nominated
		Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
		Best Screenplay	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
	37th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Film	Inside Men	Won
		Best Director	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
		Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
		Best New Actor	Joo Woo-jin	Nominated
		Best Editing	Kim Sang-bum, Kim Jae-bum	Nominated
	53rd Grand Bell Awards	Best Film	Inside Men	Won
		Best Director	Woo Min-ho	Won
		Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Lee Geung-young	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Lee El	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Woo Min-ho	Won
		Best Planning	Kim Won-kook	Won
	11th Max Movie Awards	Best Film	Inside Men	Nominated
		Best Director	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
		Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Baek Yoon-sik	Nominated
		Best Trailer	Inside Men	Nominated
	10th Asian Film Awards	Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
	10th Asian Film Awards	Best Production Designer	Cho Hwa-sung	Nominated
	21st Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Director	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
		Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Woo Min-ho	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Baek Yoon-sik	Nominated
	16th Director's Cut Awards	Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
	36th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
	36th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards	Ten Best Films of the Year	Inside Men	Won
	3rd Korean Film Producers Association Awards	Best Actor	Lee Byung-hun	Won
	5th Marie Claire Film Festival	Pioneer Award		Won
	15th New York Asian Film Festival	Star Asia Award		Won
	4th Marie Claire Asia Star Awards	Actor of the Year		Won

References

^ "INSIDE MEN to Infiltrate Hong Kong".
^ Baek, Byung-yeul (14 October 2015). "Film completes cartoon Inside Men". The Korea Times. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
^ Jin, Eun-soo (9 April 2014). "Lee Byung-hun has big plans". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
^ Conran, Pierce (10 April 2014). "INSIDERS Adds LEE Byung-hun". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
^ Jin, Eun-soo (5 June 2014). "Jo says yes to The Insiders". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
^ Tae, Sang-joon (11 June 2014). "THE INSIDERS Confirm LEE Byung-hun and CHO Seung-woo". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
^ Conran, Pierce (22 July 2014). "INSIDERS with LEE Byung-hun Begins Shooting". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
^ Baek, Byung-yeul (4 November 2015). "Inside Men depicts world controlled by corrupt power elite". The Korea Times. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
^ "Inside Men demand prompts early release". The Korea Times. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
^ Won, Ho-jung (19 November 2015). "Herald Review: Inside Men sees darkness everywhere". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
^ Jin, Eun-soo (20 November 2015). "Cho steps up in Inside Men". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^ Na, Won-jeong (24 November 2015). "Lee Byung-hun contemplates betrayal, revenge". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^ "Actor Lee Byung-hun Takes on Corruption in 'Inside Men'". NBC News. 8 July 2016.
^ "Is the Era of 10-million-admissions Opening for R-rated Movies?".
^ "Inside Men (2015)". www.koreanfilm.or.kr. Archived from the original on 2015-05-19.
^ "Inside Men: The Original (2015)". www.koreanfilm.or.kr. Archived from the original on 2016-01-07.
^ 미주중앙일보 - 미주 최대 한인 뉴스 미디어. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
^ '내부자들', 역대 청불영화 흥행 경신…'친구' 넘었다. 8 January 2016.
^ Kim, Hyun-jung (23 November 2015). "Inside Men". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
^ Ma, Kevin (23 November 2015). "Inside Men wins South Korea box office". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
^ "Inside Men draws record 2 million in 6 days". The Korea Times. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

External links

Inside Men at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
Inside Men at IMDb
Inside Men at HanCinema

[1] "INSIDE MEN to Infiltrate Hong Kong".

[2] Baek, Byung-yeul (14 October 2015). "Film completes cartoon Inside Men". The Korea Times. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

[3] Jin, Eun-soo (9 April 2014). "Lee Byung-hun has big plans". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

[4] Conran, Pierce (10 April 2014). "INSIDERS Adds LEE Byung-hun". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

[5] Jin, Eun-soo (5 June 2014). "Jo says yes to The Insiders". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

[6] Tae, Sang-joon (11 June 2014). "THE INSIDERS Confirm LEE Byung-hun and CHO Seung-woo". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

[7] Conran, Pierce (22 July 2014). "INSIDERS with LEE Byung-hun Begins Shooting". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 25 July 2014.

[8] Baek, Byung-yeul (4 November 2015). "Inside Men depicts world controlled by corrupt power elite". The Korea Times. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

[9] "Inside Men demand prompts early release". The Korea Times. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.

[10] Won, Ho-jung (19 November 2015). "Herald Review: Inside Men sees darkness everywhere". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

[11] Jin, Eun-soo (20 November 2015). "Cho steps up in Inside Men". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 10 December 2015.

[12] Na, Won-jeong (24 November 2015). "Lee Byung-hun contemplates betrayal, revenge". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 10 December 2015.

[13] "Actor Lee Byung-hun Takes on Corruption in 'Inside Men'". NBC News. 8 July 2016.

[14] "Is the Era of 10-million-admissions Opening for R-rated Movies?".

[15] "Inside Men (2015)". www.koreanfilm.or.kr. Archived from the original on 2015-05-19.

[16] "Inside Men: The Original (2015)". www.koreanfilm.or.kr. Archived from the original on 2016-01-07.

[17] 미주중앙일보 - 미주 최대 한인 뉴스 미디어. Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2016-02-17.

[18] '내부자들', 역대 청불영화 흥행 경신…'친구' 넘었다. 8 January 2016.

[19] Kim, Hyun-jung (23 November 2015). "Inside Men". Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

[Ma-20] Ma, Kevin (23 November 2015). "Inside Men wins South Korea box office". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 24 November 2015.

[21] "Inside Men draws record 2 million in 6 days". The Korea Times. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.

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v t e Grand Bell Award for Best Film
1960s	Prince Yeonsan (1962) The Memorial Gate for Virtuous Women (1963) Bloodline (1964) Deaf Sam-yong (1965) The Sea Village (1966) Coming Back (1967) Prince Daewon (1968)
1970s	Patriotic Martyr An Jung-gun (1972) The General in Red Robes (1973) The Land (1974) Flame (1975) Mother (1976) Diary of Korean-Japanese War (1977) Police Story (1978) The Hidden Hero (1979)
1980s	Son of Man (1980) Invited People (1981) Come Unto Down (1982) Mulleya Mulleya (1983) Adultery Tree (1984) Mother (1985) Pillar of Mist (1986) Diary of King Yeonsan (1987) Come Come Come Upward (1989)
1990s	All That Falls Has Wings (1990) Passion Portrait (1991) Fly High Run Far (1992) Seopyeonje (1993) The Story of Two Women (1994) The Eternal Empire (1995) Henequen (1996) The Contact (1997) Spring in My Hometown (1999)
2000s	Peppermint Candy (2000) Joint Security Area (2001) The Way Home (2002) Memories of Murder (2003) Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2004) Marathon (2005) The King and the Clown (2006) Family Ties (2007) The Chaser (2008) The Divine Weapon (2009)
2010s	Poetry (2010) The Front Line (2011) Masquerade (2012) The Face Reader (2013) The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) Ode to My Father (2015) Inside Men (2016) A Taxi Driver (2017) Burning (2018) Parasite (2019)
2020s	N/A (2020) N/A (2021) Decision to Leave (2022) Concrete Utopia (2023)