Kilimanjaro (Korea, 2000)

The movie opens with asshole policeman Lee Hae-shik tied up and with a gash on his head, drifting in and out of consciousness, followed by two gunshots. Hae-shik is woken up by his twin brother, the former convict Lee Hae-chul, who has just killed two of his children, only to commit suicide.

The following investigation leads Hae-shik to be suspended for 6 months. Hae-shik returns to the seaside town where he and his brother grew up, where he is mistaken for his brother. Hae-shik having spent the majority of his life in Seoul (to study to become a policeman), he does not know that Hae-chul has upset quite a few people upon leaving (also for Seoul).

There is something quite Louis Malle-esque to this movie, or maybe an influence from Takeshi Kitano, with the lingering and silent shots of protagonists on vast landscape, the contrast between settings (the urban landscape of Seoul and the derelict, nameless small town). And also somewhat a narrative of class struggle, as Hae-shik has risen on the social ladder, literally abandoning his family, including a twin brother who has sacrificed so that he could arrive to such a station. And yes, a Chekhovian gun (in this case, an AK-47).