Heartless City
| Heartless City | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Cruel City | |
| Genre | Noir/Crime Action Romance |
| Written by | Yoo Seong-yeol |
| Directed by | Lee Jung-hyo |
| Starring | Jung Kyung-ho Nam Gyu-ri Lee Jae-yoon |
| Composer | Nam Hye-seung |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Kim, Uno |
| Producers | Kang Cheol-woo Kim Eui-seok |
| Production location | Korea |
| Cinematography | Choi Yoon-man |
| Editors | Lee Hyun-mi Lee Young-rim |
| Running time | Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:50 (KST) |
| Production company | DRM Media |
| Original release | |
| Network | jTBC |
| Release | 27 May – 30 July 2013 |
Cruel City (Korean: 무정도시; RR: Mujeongdoshi; also known as Heartless City) is a 2013 South Korean television series starring Jung Kyung-ho, Nam Gyu-ri and Lee Jae-yoon.[1] It aired on jTBC from May 27 to July 30, 2013 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 23:00 for 20 episodes.
Plot
The noir/crime drama revolves around the love and struggles of undercover agents and members of an infamous drug ring.
When her older sister Lee Kyung-mi is murdered while undercover in the criminal underworld, Yoon Soo-min is driven to pick up where Kyung-mi left off. But in the shadows, there are no rules and no reason; Soo-min falls for the organization's drug kingpin, "The Doctor's Son," who also happens to be the prime suspect in her sister's murder.
Cast
- Jung Kyung-ho as Jung Shi-hyun ("The Doctor's Son")
- Grew up in a red light district/brothel until his mom died from drug-overdose. Then ran away from an orphanage (to Jin-Sook) and eventually became a drug courier for "Uncle" Safari. Shi-hyun is nicknamed "The Doctor's Son" and became the boss of a mid-sized gang. Highly ambitious. He is plotting to take over the position of "Scale," his drug supplier.
- Nam Gyu-ri as Yoon Soo-min[2]
- Soo-min grew up in an orphanage with Kyung-mi, and they treat each other like real sisters. When Kyung-mi is killed in the line of duty, Soo-min goes undercover to catch her friend's killer and finish what Kyung-mi started. However, she ends up falling for "The Doctor's Son," the drug lord Kyung-mi was investigating until her untimely death.
- Lee Jae-yoon as Ji Hyung-min[3]
- Hyung-min graduated from the police academy with top scores and gets promoted at a young age. Was studying law to join the Prosecutor's office, but returned to the police force to avenge an undercover officer's death. Now the section chief of a special investigation unit, his goal is to take down "Scale," which leads him to Shi-hyun.
- Son Chang-min as Min Hong-ki - Director of the police/special investigative unit.
- Kim Yoo-mi as Lee Jin-sook: President/CEO for various adult entertainment establishments. Worked the streets at an younger age. Close friend to Shi-hyun's mom. Looked out for Shi-hyun as he was growing up. Along with Soo, they both support and follow Shi-hyun's direction/quest to take over the drug distribution channel.
- Choi Moo-sung as Moon Deok-bae ("Safari") - known Shi-hyun as a child. Paths did not cross again until he was sent down by Busan (Pusan) to pursue "Doctor's Son." Taught/gave Shi-hyun a knief/switchblade when he was younger (which became Shi-hyun's weapon of choice).
- Yoon Hyun-min as Kim Hyun-soo - Met Shi-hyun in prison and both worked under "Halibut." At times, hot headed but loyal to a fault.
- Go Na-eun as Lee Kyung-mi
- An undercover agent. She is Hyung-min's girlfriend and Soo-min's older sister. Grew up with Shi-hyun at the orphanage.
- Park Soo-young as chief of detective squad
- Kil Yong-woo as Ji Man-hee
- Attorney general and Hyung-min's father.
- Kim Byung-ok as Jeoul ("Scale") - Head of the narcotics ring (drugs, loan sharking, adult entertainment establishments). Leader behind the scenes for "Halibut" and "Meth Kim."
- Kim Jung-hak as Ahn Kyung-chan
- Prosecutor.
- Song Min-ji as Cha Hyo-joo
- Reporter.
- Jung Soo-young as Oh Jung-yeon
- Prosecutor.
- Kim Jong-goo as Jo ("Busan") aka "Chairman"
- Leader of Busan gang.
- Jung Ji-soon as Jo Ha-neul
- Son of "Busan."
- Park Young-ji as Cha
- Lawmaker and Hyo-joo's father.
- Jung Moon-sung as Shi-hyun's subordinate
- Kim Min-sang as Kim Bbong ("Meth")
- Kim Hyo-sun as Eun-soo
- Lee Moo-saeng as Detective Kim
- Shim Min as Joo-young
- Soo-min's friend since kindergarten.
- Kim Jae-hwa as Park Eun-ae
Music
The soundtrack digital single "Hurt" was sung by Kim Yong-jin of pop group Bohemian. Its repetition every episode followed the dark noir theme of the series.[4]
References
- ^ Lee, Sun-min (22 May 2013). "Cruel City gets a glitzy start". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
- ^ Han, Jae-hee (6 August 2013). "Nam finds catharsis, even if she's a weirdo". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
- ^ Kim, Hyung-eun (28 May 2013). "Lee's new role not quite so Heartless". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
- ^ "'보헤미안 용진의 '무정도시' OST '상처', 극 몰입도 고조 '호평'". WStarNews (in Korean). 10 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-18.