Interview with The Thieves’s director Dong-Hoon Choi, and actor Yun-Seok Kim

The London Korean Film Festival 2012 kicked off with a screening of mega-hit crime caper The Thieves. Director Dong-Hoon Choi pulled out all the stops, casting the most bankable starts from the region, shooting in Macao, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Busan.
On 2 October 2012, "The Thieves" passed "The Host" (13 million) to become the best selling South Korean film.

In order to pull off the perfect heist, professional robber Macau Park (Yun-Seok Kim) enlists the help of a group of Korean and Chinese thieves, including his old partner Popeye and his bandmates. But Macau Park has a masterplan to double-cross everyone and escape with the bounty, a $20 million diamond known as ’Tear of the Sun’.

His plan takes an unexpected turn when each thief begins to reveal their own agendas and grudges. The star-studded cast is no mere gimmick, the film is tightly scripted, beautifully shot, funny and engaging. The action scenes are impressive and never drawn-out.
Its one downside is that the actors are competing for screen time. They are all honoured with their own subplots that are never really tied into a clear narrative. But this doesn’t deter from the elaborate stunts, the gloss and the humour that make The Thieves thoroughly entertaining.