Yadang: The Snitch

Lee Kang-su is a broker who is about to go bust. He is not a M&A guy. He acts as a go-between negotiating cooperative agreements for criminals who agree to snitch. It turns out snitching is dangerous business, especially when you work with a ruthless opportunist like prosecutor Ku Gwan-hee. Conveniently, Ku has made other enemies who might help Lee take him down in Hwang Byeong-gug’s Yadang: The Snitch, which opens Friday in New York.

Initially, Lee was drugged by his passenger and left literally holding the bag (full of drugs). Ku could tell he was not a kingpin, so he recruited him to inform on the drug-trafficking gang operating out of his prison. It worked out so well, Ku convinces him to become a professional Yadang after his release. Lee is not a lawyer, but he can broker dodgy deals that might present ethical challenges for a halfway reputable attorney.

Of course, he always structures the deal so that Ku comes out on top. In the process, Ku regularly scoops up cases from honest Det. Oh Sang-jae (a.k.a. “The Jade Emperor”). That rarely serves the interests of justice, but it is great for Ku’s interests. When Jo Hun, the leading presidential candidate’s son is arrested during a major drug bust, Ku cuts lucrative deal to protect him, but he sacrifices Lee and Oh in the process. Unfortunately, that means Det. Oh cannot intercede on behalf of his source, Uhm Su-jin, a formerly rising starlet terrorized by Jo Hun.

During the subsequent months, Lee recovers from the serious injuries and meth dosing inflicted on him by Yeom, the drug lord they were supposed to bust. Oh defends himself in court against specious corruption charges, while Uhm’s career implodes. Consequently, they all want revenge against Ku, Yeom, and Jo Hun.

Evidently, Yadangs are a real thing in South Korea—a really sleazy thing. You could call The Wolf of Wall Street for Yadang “cooperation” brokers. It is also a cynical but consistently grabby payback thriller, thanks to the three co-lead performances. Kang Ha-neul is intriguingly slippery as Lee. It is a darkly complex portrayal that emphasizes his compromised nature, despite his innocent beginnings. Yoo Hae-jin (who often provides the schticky comic relief) gives one of his career-best performances as the calculating prosecutor. Park Hae-joon is also rock-solid as the driven Det. Oh.

Ryu Kyung-soo chews the scenery with cold, clammy, malevolence as entitled Jo Hun. Frankly, the character of Uhm is more interesting than Chae Won-been’s serviceable but not particularly nuanced performance. Clearly, Uhm was inspired by several recent media scandals involving Koran celebrities and drugs that took tragic turns.

As it happens, Yeom’s drug business involves ultra-pure “pink” meth made in North Korea and smuggled through China, which adds a further zeitgeisty, ripped-from-the-headlines element. The film inspires little confidence in the Korean legal system, or the complicit media, but it is certainly entertainingly to watch all the snarling, swaggering skullduggery. Highly recommended for fans of take-no-prisoners Korean thrillers, Yadang: The Snitch opens this Friday (4/25) in theaters, including the Regal Fairfax in VA.