Down on his luck and desperate, Gang Tae-shik (Choi Min-sik; Old Boy, MIFF 04) is doing it hard on the streets. He's lost the respect of his son, and his wife has thrown him out of home. Now the former silver medallist of the Asian Games is selling himself on the street as a human punching bag. To wipe his mounting debt and regain his plummeting dignity, Gang sets his sights on the amateur boxing title.

Yoo Sang-hwan (Ryoo Seung-bum) is a young rebel with few prospects and even less ambition. Living for gang fights and muggings, he soon finds himself behind bars in a juvenile detention centre. But his penchant for punching has one guard suggest he join the boxing club. The amateur boxing title provides, for the first time, direction in his life. Gang and Yoo face off for the battle of their lives.

With three action films behind him, including Die Bad (MIFF 01) and No Blood, No Tears (MIFF 03), the talented young Ryoo Seung-wan directs a more character-driven film in Crying Fist. It screened in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes, 2005.