I love Korean films and Song Kang-ho (the lead actor in this one) is one of my favorite Korean actors. I also tend to enjoy films that are centered around drug crime so it should come as no surprise that I dig this film. Some of my favorite illegal drug films are completely made up stories and while I am quite certain many aspects of this film are fiction for the sake of entertainment, Lee Doo-sam (The Drug King) is an actual person.
The film follows Lee Doo-sam, an ordinary person from a modest background and how he built an empire of smuggling and distribution of mostly methamphetamine in the 70's. He was extremely effective in his methods and accumulated vast wealth, much of which he gave away or contributed towards social programs in Korea.
It is amusing and also factual that much of the gang warfare that takes place in this film or in Korea in general doesn't involve the use of firearms because they are exceptionally difficult to come by in Korea - this remains true to this day. There is one particular scene in this film where the cops are being shot at and they look around at each-other and say "He has guns.... do we have guns? no? We should get some guns!"
I expected a stellar performance from Song Kang-ho as he has been stellar in everything I have seen him in before but for me, Jo Jung-suk, who plays a government prosecutor, really shines in this film as well.
Doona Bae, who I had seen before in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance performs excellently as Kim Jeong-ah, a well-connected multi-lingual socialite who becomes the love interest of the Drug King as the movie progresses. I didn't realize that she is actually fluent in 4 languages and has appeared in films speaking Japanese, English, French, and of course Korean. This is exceptionally impressive and I will definitely be looking for her more in the future. Currently she works on the only zombie series I can tolerate called "The Kingdom," which is something else you definitely should watch.
Although this film is not as traditionally unpredictable, which is a mainstay of what I love about Korean movies, the fact that it is based in actual events and a real person makes up for that. This movie is currently available on Netflix at least in my region. It can be confusing at times because I think Korean names are very difficult to remember but since the film only focuses on 3 or 4 major people, you can fill in the blanks provided you are paying attention.