The Client (Korean: 의뢰인; RR: Uiroe-in) is a 2011 South Korean courtroom thriller film directed by Sohn Young-sung.
The Client | |
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![]() Promotional poster for The Client | |
Hangul | 의뢰인 |
Hanja | 依賴人 |
Revised Romanization | Uiroe-in |
McCune–Reischauer | Ŭiroein |
Directed by | Sohn Young-sung |
Written by | Sohn Young-sung Lee Chun-hyeong |
Produced by | Yu Jeong-hun Kim Jho Kwang-soo Shin Chang-gil |
Starring | Jang Hyuk Park Hee-soon Ha Jung-woo |
Cinematography | Choi Sang-ho |
Edited by | Kim Sun-min |
Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
Production company | Generation Blue Films |
Distributed by | Showbox/Mediaplex |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
Country | South Korea |
Language | Korean |
Box office | US$15.8 million[1] |
On his wedding anniversary, Han Chul-min (Jang Hyuk) drives into his apartment complex parking lot and sees a large crowd gathered by the entryway into his apartment. He enters holding a bouquet of flowers for his wife, instead he finds police officers scattered about collecting evidence. In his bedroom there is a large pool of blood dripping onto the floor from the bed, and his wife is nowhere to be seen. Han is then handcuffed, arrested and taken into police custody for her murder.
Prosecutor Ahn Min-ho (Park Hee-soon) takes charge of prosecuting the Han murder case. He has little doubt in the guilt of Chul-min. Confirming his suspicions that Han was arrested as the prime suspect in a serial murder case, but later released on insufficient evidence.
Jang Ho-won (Sung Dong-il), an investigator, brings the case of Han to defense lawyer Kang Sung-hee (Ha Jung-woo). He informs Kang that the alleged murder victim's body was never discovered, the police have yet to find any direct evidence connecting Han to the murder of his wife and his arrest is based on circumstantial evidence. Han, who works at a film laboratory, has no fingerprints as they are erased from the strong chemicals he handles every day. Convinced that Han is not guilty, Kang takes the case and applies in court for a jury trial and goes through a series of legal clashes against rival prosecutor Ahn. The case gets even more complex as details about the mysterious life of Han's wife are unveiled.[2]
The film attracted 826,287 admissions in its first week of release[3] and till the end of 18 October achieved a total of 2.1 million[4] It ranked #2 and grossed ₩541 million in its first week of release[5] but by the end of the second week rose to #2 with a gross of ₩5 billion[6] and grossed a total of ₩17 billion after seven weeks of screening.[7]