NOWHERE TO HIDE

1/2

A bloody, visually stunning neo-noir action flick from South Korea that chronicles the police manhunt for a vicious killer.In Korean, with English subtitles. Running time: 110 minutes. Not rated (violence). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, between Fifth Avenue and University Place.

THE South Korean neo-noir actioner “Nowhere to Hide” opens with a tribute to Sergei Eisenstein’s Odessa Steps sequence in “Potemkin”: A drug lord is viciously stabbed to death on the Forty Steps, a steep, outdoor staircase in the port city of Inchon.

As the Bee Gees sing “Holiday” on the soundtrack, the killer flees into the torrential rain with a briefcase full of cash.

The killing sets off a police manhunt for another drug kingpin.

Heading the search is a sadistic maverick detective named Woo (after John Woo, of course), who isn’t adverse to twisting the law (and bodies) to suit his own needs.

As directed by Lee Myung-Se, a leader of the Korean New Wave of the late 1980s, “Nowhere to Hide” is light on story and dialogue but heavy on atmosphere: Lots of rain and snow, neon-lit streets, shadows on walls, bloodied bodies, and slow-motion.

The action sequences are stunning, especially a rain-drenched fistfight on railroad tracks.

Explaining his inspiration, Lee says he was intrigued by World Cup soccer.

“I thought that if I could express the furious sweating of athletes . . . perhaps I could depict a new type of action,” he notes.

But that doesn’t mean Lee (who also scripted) doesn’t have a soft side. When you least expect it, he throws in moments of great tenderness.

The entire film is a feast for the eyes that brings to mind the work of Hong Kong ace Wong Kar-Wai.

Don’t let the glut of high-profile movies opening this weekend keep you from seeing “Nowhere to Hide.”