You are guaranteed a few laughs out of this and there might be one groan-worthy moment especially for the members of this community. Do-man of course is hesitant, Chief Lee tells him "do your best" and he gets more than he bargained for. By lottery, he was chosen to be the bank robber. Do-man is like the straightest straight man you could think of: he is a disciplined traffic cop who -are you ready for this?- goes by the book. Everybody is in on it: the banks, the cops, the media. Instead of just taking care of it the normal way, Chief Lee orchestrates a simulation as training for the cops. Due to a string of bank robberies in the area, the citizens have lost faith in the local police force. The twist? It's a simulated bank robbery set up by Chief Lee. In essence this is a heist film, in which a police chief named Lee Seung-woo faces off against the bank robber Jung Do-man. Going by the Book (released in 2007, but only got a North American distribution this year thanks to 5 Points Pictures) is a brilliant idea. Think about that the next time you watch a Korean film. This means that in a large pool of creative resources a lot of good ideas get funded (unlike Hollywood and its investors who only go after high-profile projects, not really guaranteeing quality but still would like to see $$$$ in the bank) which is good for all of us.
In the last twelve years they have invested 43 million USD in 602 films. A week ago I learned a very interesting thing about Korean cinema from a TEDx talk: did you know that the Korean government actively supports its own cinema industry? There is a government-supported, self-administered body called the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) and they make sure two things happen: (1) there is a set quota of how many Korean-made films to be played at their theaters every year and (2) they invest money in studios and give grants to independent filmmakers.
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