The Age of Shadows (2016)

Drama, Thriller, Action

Director: Jee-woon Kim
Writers: Jee-woon Kim, Ji-min Lee, Jong-dae Park, Kathy Pilon
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Byung-Hun Lee, Hee-soon Park, Yoo Gong

"Friend or foe? Infiltration and deception. Suspicion and betrayal. The enemy lies within."

The 1920s. Korea has fallen under Japanese rule. Lee Jung-chool, a Korean police captain in the Japanese police force, is given a special mission to infiltrate the armed resistance fighting for Korean independence. He approaches Kim Woo-jin, a leader of the resistance. These two men who stand on opposite sides of their historical era, each knowing the identity and intentions of the other, become close without revealing their inner thoughts. Meanwhile intel is being leaked on both sides, and no one knows who the informants are. Members of the resistance meet in Shanghai to obtain explosives that will be used to destroy facilities of the Japanese Headquarters in Seoul, while the Japanese police follow them and gather in Shanghai. The pursued and the pursuers are locked in an operation where each side uses the other. Meanwhile, a train carrying explosives passes the border and heads towards Seoul.

Plot summary from IMDb: Set in the late 1920s, The Age of Shadows follows the cat-and-mouse game that unfolds between a group of resistance fighters trying to bring in explosives from Shanghai to destroy key Japanese facilities in Seoul, and Japanese agents trying to stop them. A talented Korean-born Japanese police officer, who was previously in the independence movement himself, is thrown into a dilemma between the demands of his reality and the instinct to support a greater cause.

Awards: 12 wins & 32 nominations.
Runtime: 140 min
TV-MA