ErnestHemingway’sinfluentialshortstoryTheKillers(1927),hasbeenadaptedtofilmbyRobertSiodmakandAndreiTarkovsky,whileEdwardHopper’spaintingNighthawks(1942)isalsosaidtohavebeeninspiredbythestory.TheKillers,anomnibusfilmcomprisedoffour-shorts,takesmotifsfromthesetwoclassicsandborrowssomeoftheirimageryasmise-en-scène.The4directorsunfoldthenoirworldofdeathandwaitingwithdifferentsensesandsensibilities.KimJong-kwan’sMetamorphosis,whichdepictstheawakeningandmanifestationofpowerfollowingbloodsucking;RohDeok’sContractors,apyramidofcontractkillingsandsubcontractedlabor;ChangHang-jun’sEveryoneisWaitingfortheMan,whichtracksdownaghostlyfigurecalledamysteriouskiller;andLeeMyung-Se’sSilentCinema,anallegoryofhislongtimedreamofcinemaandtheworld.Notably,ActorShimEun-kyungappearsinallfourfilms,eachtimeinacompletelydifferentrole,addingtothedelight.It’sanunconventionalcollectionofemotional,psychological,andaction-orientedfilms.
