Many people often associate turtles or tortoises with being slow, largely due to the race between a rabbit and a turtle described in one of Aesop’s fables. In the story, the turtle never stops and eventually defeats the rabbit who takes a nap, due to his over confidence. The title of the 2009 flick “Running Turtle” is interesting and ironic enough to grab the attention of viewers who are familiar with the concept of the slow turtle and the speedy rabbit. The “running turtle” in the movie represents an incompetent, clumsy detective who is hot on the tracks of an escaped prisoner on the run. Viewers may easily predict the ending—the clever, swift rabbit seems to be leading the race in the beginning but the turtle eventually wins the race. But the process is far from easy, adding many twists and turns to the predictable theme.

Jo Pil-seong is a lazy and mildly corrupt detective who is used to taking bribes and spends time scratching off lottery tickets in his office in a rural village. One day, he steals three million won from his wife and bets the money on a bull named Gomi in a bullfighting tournament. As Gomi is declared as a winner, Pil-seong and his friends celebrate the surprise windfall. His joy doesn’t last long, however, as Song Gi-tae breaks out of prison and steals his precious money. Pil-seong is too slow to catch the fugitive, and the first fight between the two men ends up in a humiliating defeat for the detective. Now Pil-seong’s relentless chase of the criminal begins. Each time, however, the detective fails to capture the infamous convict, who even cuts off Pil-seong’s little finger as a warning that he will kill the detective if he tries to hunt him down again. To make matters worse, Pil-seong is fired due to his error and is even kicked out of his house by his wife. Nevertheless, he never stops chasing after Gi-tae, even though his friends implore him to give up capturing the convict for his own sake. In their last showdown at a bullfighting arena, the two antagonists discard their respective weapons for a fair fight, engaging in a head-to-head battle. Pil-seong finally knocks out his opponent and captures the convict. Pil-seong gets his job back and is promoted to a higher position. The movie ends with a scene of Pil-seong proudly leading a parade to his daughter’s school.

The main character in this movie is the metaphorical turtle who never stops moving. While the flawed detective stumbles all of the time, this hardworking “turtle” struggles to stay ahead in the uphill battle. This is the image of ordinary people, of many Korean fathers, in particular, who work so hard, only to earn little recognition from their colleagues at work or their own family members at home. The black comedy blends this pathos into humor and surprises, amusing and thrilling the audience throughout the movie.