Friend
2001 · Movie · 118 min · ★ 6.9 · 82% critics
Four friends from very different families grow up side by side during the tough 1970s, sharing school days, jokes, and loyalty. As they get older, their choices pull them onto separate paths, testing how much their bond can survive changing lives and pressures around them.
Also known as Chingoo
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Details
- Original title
- 친구
- Years
- 2001
- Release date
- 2001-03-31
- Language
- Korean
- Runtime
- 118 min
- Max quality
- SD
- Critic score
- 82/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.9/10 (98 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a serious, emotional friendship drama with bursts of violence and humor, similar in spirit to A Bittersweet Life or A Dirty Carnival; Not for you if cultural context gaps frustrate you.
Pros: powerful friendship story; intense fights; authentic settings | Cons: uneven second half; confusing motivations; some underused friends
Themes
- friendship
- gangster
- betrayal
- busan, south korea
Cast & crew
Yu Oh-seong
as Joon-seok
Jang Dong-gun
as Dong-soo
Seo Tae-hwa
as Sang-taek
Jung Woon-taek
as Jeong-ho
Kim Bo-kyung
as Jin-sook
Ki Joo-bong
as Mustache
Joo Hyun
as Joon-seok's Father
Jeon Young-woon
as Dong-soo's Father
Lee Jae-yong
as Scar-Eye
- KH
Kim Hyun-ji
as Tall Woman
Directed by Kwak Kyung-taek