Back for his first Korean film since 2010's brutal I Saw the Devil, filmmaker Kim Jee-woon recently shot the violent 1930s resistance fighter action drama The Age of Shadows (previously known as Secret Agent). Along for the ride are ace star Song Kang-ho and pretty boy Gong Yoo, who's also making waves this summer in the zombie thriller Train to Busan.
Set for a Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) release in September, The Age of Shadows features Gong as the leader of a violent Korean group seeking independence from Japan. Song plays a Korean character who works for the Japanese, trying to stamp out the insurrection.
Beatifully shot by A Bittersweet Life DP Kim Ji-yong, The Age of Shadows invokes a brooding and tense period atmosphere and many hope this will be a return to form for the filmmaker, whose last film, the Arnold Schwarzenneger pic The Last Stand, was neither a hit with critics or audiences. The film also marks Warner Bros.'s first foray in local Korean productions.