# Beat (1997 film)
**Beat** (비트; romanized *Biteu*) is a 1997 South Korean action drama directed by Kim Sung-soo about three young men drifting from school fights into the criminal underworld, and the romance that pulls the protagonist toward a different life[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037). It stars [Jung Woo-sung](https://www.edgepedia.org/jung-woo-sung), Ko So-young, Im Chang-jung, and Yu Oh-seong[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037), and it became a touchstone of 1990s Korean youth cinema, described by the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival as "a Korean version of *Rebel Without a Cause*"[2](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=2863&sc_category1=937&sc_year=2018). It should not be confused with Gary Walkow's 2000 film *Beat* about the [Beat Generation](https://www.edgepedia.org/beat-generation) writers, or with Amon Miyamoto's 1998 Japanese film of the same English title[3](https://garywalkow.com/beat-movie) • [4](https://intl.ponycanyon.co.jp/212).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 비트 (*Biteu*), released in English as *Beat*[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm) |
| Director | Kim Sung-soo, his second feature[6](https://asianmoviepulse.com/2019/03/film-review-beat-1997-by-kim-sung-su/) |
| Release | May 3, 1997 (South Korea); rated for adults only (청소년 관람불가)[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) • [5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm) |
| Running time | 113 minutes[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) |
| Genre | Action, romance, crime drama[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) |
| Main cast | Jung Woo-sung (Min), Ko So-young (Romi), Im Chang-jung (Hwan-gyu), Yu Oh-seong (Tae-soo)[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) |
| Source | Original story by cartoonist Huh Young-man; screenplay by Shim San[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm) |
| Awards | Daejong Film Awards 1997, Best Supporting Actor; Paeksang Arts Awards 1998, Best Editing and Best New Actor nominations[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Min (Jung Woo-sung) is a high school student who spends his time fighting alongside his best friend Tae-soo (Yu Oh-seong)[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm). Transferring to a new school, Min meets the local school-violence boss Hwan-gyu (Im Chang-jung) in the teachers' office, knocks him down with one punch, and the two become close friends[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm). Through Hwan-gyu, Min enters the nightclub "noiteung" (Korean nightclub scene where men are auctioned as paid escorts) scene, where he is auctioned to the well-off student Romi (Ko So-young) for 100,000 won, becoming her "slave" for a night; he falls for her, while she keeps him at a distance and uses him as she pleases[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm).
Tae-soo enters organized crime. He is asked to kill someone, is arrested, and goes to prison, where he dreams of becoming a respected mob boss after his release[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) • [7](https://asianwiki.com/Beat_%281997-Korean_Movie%29). Min, whose widowed mother has taken up with a man after his father's death, runs away from school and home, and plans a new life with Hwan-gyu, who hopes to open a restaurant[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) • [7](https://asianwiki.com/Beat_%281997-Korean_Movie%29). Romi, focused on the college entrance competition, at one point uses Min to make her friends drop out, and later gives up her education after an accident[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) • [7](https://asianwiki.com/Beat_%281997-Korean_Movie%29). The story follows Min's slide toward the underworld while Romi, the girl from a good family with dreams of a prestigious university, tries to pull him away from street life[7](https://asianwiki.com/Beat_%281997-Korean_Movie%29) • [8](https://www.bloodbrothersfilms.com/2024/02/directors-in-focus-kim-sung-soo-beat.html).
## Production
The film was produced by Uno Film (우노필름), with Jo Min-whan as producer and Tcha Sung-jai as executive producer[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037) • [5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm). The credited crew includes cinematographer Kim Hyeong-gu, editor Kim Hyun, and art director Kim Ki-cheol[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm). Jung Doo-hong, the martial-arts director and stunt performer, handled the action[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037).
*Beat* was Kim Sung-soo's first collaboration with Jung Woo-sung; the two went on to work together on *City of the Rising Sun* (1998), *[Musa](https://www.edgepedia.org/musa-2001-film) – The Warrior* (2001), and *Asura: The City of Madness* (2016)[2](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=2863&sc_category1=937&sc_year=2018). For the actor, still little known at the time, the film was a breakthrough role[6](https://asianmoviepulse.com/2019/03/film-review-beat-1997-by-kim-sung-su/).
## Style and cultural standing
The Bucheon festival's program note places *Beat* in the context of the Korean "X-generation" of 1997, young people who could not be defined by existing terms, and calls the film an icon of Korean society in the 1990s[2](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=2863&sc_category1=937&sc_year=2018). Hong Kong action films were a major influence, and Kim combined the youth film, the school movie, and the romance into one picture, with what the note calls the newest mise-en-scène of its time[2](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=2863&sc_category1=937&sc_year=2018). Critics have connected its smeary, framerate-altered look to the style [Wong Kar-wai](https://www.edgepedia.org/wong-kar-wai) and [Christopher Doyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-doyle) made famous in *Chungking Express*, and its neon-lit city nights and soundtrack as a record of 1990s Korean fashion and mood[8](https://www.bloodbrothersfilms.com/2024/02/directors-in-focus-kim-sung-soo-beat.html).
The film's most-remembered image is Jung Woo-sung riding a motorcycle down dark streets at night, arms out and eyes closed[8](https://www.bloodbrothersfilms.com/2024/02/directors-in-focus-kim-sung-soo-beat.html). Audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes repeatedly describe it as a Korean *Rebel Without a Cause* and a generational classic, with a 34% Popcornmeter score from more than 250 ratings on the site's current page[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beat-1997); IMDb lists a 6.7/10 rating from 758 votes[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158489/).
## Release and afterlife
*Beat* opened in South Korea on May 3, 1997[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037). The Korean Film Database records a theatrical re-release on March 6, 2024[5](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm). It has since circulated at retrospective festivals, including the Florence Korea Film Fest in 2019 (an homage to Jung Woo-sung), the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2018, the Marie Claire Film Festival in 2017, and the ChunCheon and Muju festivals in 2024[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037).
Korean Film Council figures list 74 screens, 11,775 total admissions, and a total gross of $71,053 for the title in its database[1](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037). In the United States the film streams free with ads on OnDemandKorea and Amasian TV[11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/beat-1997).
## Other films titled Beat
At least two unrelated features share the English title. Gary Walkow's *Beat* (2000), starring [Kiefer Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/kiefer-sutherland) and [Courtney Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/courtney-love) as William and Joan Burroughs, dramatizes the 1944 killing of Dave Kammerer by [Lucien Carr](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucien-carr) in New York and the 1951 death of Joan Burroughs in Mexico City; it premiered at Sundance 2000 to hostile reviews that ended its chances of theatrical distribution[3](https://garywalkow.com/beat-movie) • [12](https://garywalkow.com/press). Amon Miyamoto's Japanese *Beat* (1998), 101 minutes, set in 1960s American-occupied Okinawa, stars Claude Maki and Yuki Uchida and was released in Japan on September 15, 1998[4](https://intl.ponycanyon.co.jp/212).
## References
1. [Beat (1997), Korean Film Council (KOFIC) film database](https://m.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/films/index/filmsView.jsp?movieCd=19970037)
2. [Beat, BIFAN archive program note, "JUNG Woo-sung: The Star, the Actor, the Artist" (2018)](https://www.bifan.kr/eng/bifan/history_program_view.asp?pk_seq=2863&sc_category1=937&sc_year=2018)
3. [Beat – Gary Walkow, official site](https://garywalkow.com/beat-movie)
4. [BEAT, Pony Canyon international licensing page](https://intl.ponycanyon.co.jp/212)
5. [비트 (1997, Beat), Korean Film Database (koreafilm.co.kr)](https://www.koreafilm.co.kr/database/movie/beat/beat.htm)
6. [Film Review: Beat (1997) by Kim Sung-su, Asian Movie Pulse (2019)](https://asianmoviepulse.com/2019/03/film-review-beat-1997-by-kim-sung-su/)
7. [Beat (1997 Korean Movie), AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/Beat_%281997-Korean_Movie%29)
8. [Directors in Focus: Kim Sung-soo | Beat (1997), Blood Brothers Films (2024)](https://www.bloodbrothersfilms.com/2024/02/directors-in-focus-kim-sung-soo-beat.html)
9. [Beat (1997), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beat-1997)
10. [Beat (1997), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158489/)
11. [Beat streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/beat-1997)
12. [Press – Gary Walkow, including Dan Sallitt's 24fps essay on Beat (2000)](https://garywalkow.com/press)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1990s films › Crime dramas and gangster films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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