No. 3

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Movie: No. 3
Revised romanization: Neobeo 3
Hangul: 넘버 3
Director: Song Neung-Han
Writer: Song Neung-Han
Producer:
Cinematographer:
Release Date: August 2, 1997
Runtime: 108 Min.
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot

With just a knife in his hand, Tae-ju has been a gangster for 15 years. The number three man in the Dogang Family, every day, Tae-ju lives by the ruthless determination to become 'number one in the family.' He studies foreign languages in his spare time in preparation for the internationalization of organized crime but things are not going his way. Presently, he is being twisted inside out by Jae-chul, the simple-minded number two man who resolves everything by wielding an ashtray, and Dongpal Ma, a gangster prosecutor who lives in the same apartment complex and picks a fight every which way Tae-ju turns.

Tae-ju's wife, Hyun-ji, a hostess at a bar, is on the brink of exploding with discontent at her husband's extremely dangerous profession. Since the only thing he is good at is wielding a knife, Hyun-ji pleads with Tae-ju to work at a sushi restaurant but he shows no interest. Inflamed by her husband's indifference, she becomes acquainted with a pseudo-magazine company. They claim they will make a person's debut as a poet if the person buys 500 books at one time from their company. Hyun-ji decides to become a poet. The magazine company introduces her to a poet wearing a purple scarf who becomes her private tutor. Now Hyun-ji learns to love poetry and love the poet.

Gangster prosecutor, MA Dong-pal, lives in the same apartment complex as Tae-ju. His principle is as follows: the bastard who commits the crime is the rotten bastard, the crime itself is not guilty. Infamous for confronting gangsters with equal violence, Dong-pal is regarded as only one thing - a big pain in their asses. Always cursing, Dong-pal's only hobby is to flip Tae-ju out every time they run into each other around the apartment complex.

Aside from them, Tae-ju is surrounded by people like Gina, the bar owner whose goals in life are cash, credit cards, and sex; the pimp, 'Embalmer', who likes to speak in old Chinese proverbs; Jae-chul, the simple-minded gangster who uses an ashtray as his choice weapon of murder; and the boss, who advocates 'the internationalized gangster heading into the 21st century.' Their lives are tangled as they devote themselves to stabbing and betraying one another...