# The Man from Nowhere (2010 film)

The Man from Nowhere (Korean: 아저씨; RR: Ajeossi; lit. Mister) is a 2010 South Korean neo-noir action-thriller film starring Won Bin and written and directed by Lee Jeong-beom. In the film, a mysterious man embarks on a bloody rampage when the only person who seems to understand him is kidnapped. It was the highest-grossing South Korean film of 2010.
The Man from Nowhere was released in the United States and Canada on October 1, 2010. An Indian remake titled Rocky Handsome was released in 25 March 2016. This also marked Won Bin's final appearance as an actor to date.

## Plot

Cha Tae-sik is a quiet man running a pawnshop. His only friend is So-mi, a little girl from the same neighborhood. So-mi's mother Hyo-jeong is a go-go dancer and opium addict. Instructed by her lover, Hyo-jeong steals a large pack of opium being sold at the bar where she works and hides it in a camera bag, which she pawns to Tae-sik for safekeeping. Drug lord Oh Myung-gyu tasks his subordinate brothers, Man-seok and Jong-seok, with retrieving the opium. Jong-seok locates Hyo-jeong and tortures her in front of So-mi until she reveals the location of the drugs.
Jong-seok's lackeys Du-chi and Bear go to the pawnshop, but Tae-sik easily overpowers them. Holding So-mi hostage, Jong-seok forces Tae-sik to deliver the opium to Myung-gyu. Man-seok, tired of working for his brother, informs the police, but Myung-gyu evades arrest. Tae-sik is arrested after discovering Hyo-jeong's body with her organs harvested in the back of his car. Tae-sik escapes from the police station, alarming them with his display of combat skills. Upon further investigation, the officers discover that Tae-sik was a former covert operative for South Korean Army Intelligence, but retired after an assassin killed his pregnant wife.
The brothers track down Hyo-jeong's lover and kill him, while the brothers' bodyguard Ramrowan kills Myung-gyu, thus allowing the brothers to take over his operations. Following a lead from the burner phone Jong-seok gave him, Tae-sik tracks Du-chi to a nightclub. As Tae-sik asks about the brothers, Ramrowan walks in and shoots at them, killing Du-chi and wounding Tae-sik. Tae-sik escapes and finds his former partner, who nurses him back to health and helps him acquire a gun. Tae-sik goes back to the city and discovers a drug manufacturing plant; in the process of destroying it, he kills Jong-seok and frees the enslaved child workers.
Tae-sik confronts Man-seok's gang at his condominium. Claiming that he had So-mi's eyes harvested, Man-seok shows Tae-sik a container with two preserved eyeballs. Enraged, Tae-sik brutally kills the gang members, including Ramrowan and Man-seok. As Tae-sik prepares to commit suicide out of grief, a dirty but unharmed So-mi finds him. Ramrowan, who took pity on her because she had been kind to him, had spared her life -- the eyes in the container belonged to the gangsters' surgeon. The police allow Tae-sik and So-mi to ride together after Tae-sik's arrest. When So-mi falls asleep, Tae-sik asks them to stop at a small convenience store where he buys a backpack along with other school supplies. Tae-sik tells So-mi that she is going to be on her own as the police have to take him away. Before leaving, Tae-sik asks her for a hug and breaks down in tears as they embrace.

## Cast

* Won Bin as Cha Tae-sik
* Kim Sae-ron as So-mi
* Kim Hee-won as Man-seok
* Kim Sung-oh as Jong-seok, Man-Seok's brother
* Kim Tae-hoon as Detective Kim Chi-gon
* Thanayong Wongtrakunl as Lum Ramrowan
* Lee Do-gyeom as Child at workplace
* Kim Hyo-seo as Hyo-jeong, So-mi's mother
* Lee Jong-yi as Detective No
* Song Young-chang as Oh Myung-gyu
* Jo Seok-hyuon as Moon Dal-seo
* Jo Jae-yoon as Jang Doo-sik
* Hong So-hee as Yeon-soo
* Hwang Min-ho as Nam Sung-Sik
* Kwak Byung-Kyu as Detective Kim
* Lee Jae-won as Du-chi

## Release

During its August 6–8 opening weekend, the film recorded 712,840 admissions, taking the number 1 spot on the box office charts for five weeks straight. It had sold a total of 6,228,300 tickets when it finished its theatrical run on November 17, 2010. The film grossed a total of US$42,484,155 in South Korea. On October 1, 2010 CJ Entertainment gave the film a limited theatrical release to North American theaters where it grossed US$35,751 in 1 theater its opening weekend. After widening the release up to 19 theaters, the film grossed US$528,175 in the U.S. and Canada.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10. Russell Edwards of Variety wrote "Brutal violence dominates the dynamic Korean thriller The Man From Nowhere. Local heartthrob Won Bin (Mother, Tae Guk Gui) transforms himself into an action hero in writer-helmer Lee Jeong-beom's swift and blood-soaked yarn, about a mystery man who gets caught up in a gang war while trying to protect a child, recalling Luc Besson's The Professional."

### Awards

* 2010: (19th) Buil Film Awards – October 8
** Best Music: Shim Hyun-jung
** Special Award (Buil Independence Judge): The Man from Nowhere
* 2010 (19th) Philadelphia Film Festival – October 14–24
** "Graveyard Shift Special Mention": The Man from Nowhere
* 2010: (47th) Grand Bell Awards – October 29
** Best Actor: Won Bin
** Popularity Award: Won Bin
** Best Editing: Kim Sang-bum, Kim Jae-bum
** Best Visual Effects: Kim Tae-ui
* 2010: (8th) Korean Film Awards – November 18
** Best Actor: Won Bin
** Best New Actress: Kim Sae-ron
** Best Cinematography: Lee Tae-yoon
** Best Lighting: Lee Cheol-oh
** Best Editing: Kim Sang-bum, Kim Jae-bum
** Best Visual Effects: Park Jung-ryul (for action scenes)
** Best Music: Shim Hyun-jung
* 2010: (31st) Blue Dragon Film Awards – November 26
** Technical Award: Park Jung-ryul (for action scenes)
** Popularity Award: Won Bin
** Box Office Award: The Man from Nowhere
* 2010: (2nd) Korean Wave Industry Awards – December 4
** Popular Culture Award (Film section): The Man from Nowhere
* 2010: (6th) University Film Festival of Korea – December 13
** Best Director: Lee Jeong-beom
** Best Actor: Won Bin
** Best Cinematography: Lee Tae-yoon
** Best Music: Shim Hyun-jung
* 2010: (13th) Director's Cut Awards – December 17
** Best Production: Opus Pictures (Lee Tae-heon) The Man from Nowhere
* 2010: (11th) National Assembly Society of Popular Culture & Media Awards (Korea) – December 20
** Movie of the Year: The Man from Nowhere
* 2011: (2nd) Film Journalists Association Annual Film Awards (Korea) – January 27
** Best Actor: Won Bin
* 2011: (8th) MaxMovie Awards – February 1
** Best Director: Lee Jeong-beom
** Best Actor: Won Bin
** Best New Actress: Kim Sae-ron
* 2011: (3rd) Beaune International Thriller Film Festival – March 30 – April 3
** Grand Prize: The Man from Nowhere
* 2011: (47th) Baeksang Arts Awards – May 26
** Best Film: The Man from Nowhere
* 2011: (33rd) Golden Cinematography Awards – September 1
** Gold Medal Cinematography: Lee Tae-yoon

## Soundtrack

Soundtrack list:
* The Man from Nowhere
* In Tae - Sik s Memory
* Trash Can
* Mother In Danger
* Chasing Her
* Chain Of Mystery
* Fights In Golf Club
* Finding Clue
* Dark Knight
* Somi in Danger
* Surviving Today
* Agent. Tae - Sik
* Dirty Cash - Mystery
* His Path Of Life
* There's No One But You
* Shave Himself
* Delivering Drug
* Jump Off
* Spit - Mystery
* The Last Bullet
* Ajussi
* Dear - Mad Soul Child

## Legacy

John Wick was influenced by The Man from Nowhere along with Park Chan-wook's The Vengeance Trilogy (2002–2005). They influenced the film due to "[their] minimalist composition and graphic nature."

### Remake

In March 2012, Dimension Films acquired the rights to do an English-language remake of The Man from Nowhere; plans are to have Shawn Christensen, who wrote and directed the 2012 short film Curfew, write the adaptation. On August 5, 2020, it was reported that the remake will be produced by John Wick director Chad Stahelski and Jason Spitz with a script provided by Derek Kolstad for New Line Cinema.
A Hindi remake titled Rocky Handsome directed by Nishikant Kamat starring John Abraham and Diya Chalwad was released on 25 March 2016.