The Korean War Movie "Taegukgi"

I have never been a fan of war movies nevertheless Korean movies. The last war movie I've ever seen was Saving Private Ryan. If not only for Steven Spielberg (who I considered the best Director of our Generation next to Francis For Copolla of the Godfather series), I am not going to waste two and a half hours watching two group of Koreans fighting with soporific explosions, blood sheddings and shooting. But this Korean war movie completely went against my expectations and presented something completely innovative and original (Je-gyu would be crazy to do that), but given the conflict, with a Korean perspective on a war we never see films about, Taegukgi does manage to garner up some interest to at the least, make the two and a half hours simply breeze by. A story of two brothers, one an out-of-school shoe shiner with aspirations of owning a shop, the other, a younger 18 year old intelligent student, are both forcibly drafted into the South Korean army at the outbreak of war in 1950. Begrudgingly shipped off and unable to find a way out of it, the older brother, Jin-tae decides the best plan to get his younger brother, Jin-seok back home alive by earning a medal of bravery for himself to be able to gain the privilege in return. Meanwhile, his less-war-accustomed brother begins to fear for Jin-tae’s life and doubt the “selfless” actions with cynicism. Given mainly two characters, their family back home and a couple supporting army characters, Taegukgi doesn’t particularly care about creating an assortment of minor army buddies to tragically lose their lives slowly depleting the brotherhood that forms in their company. Instead, the film takes the brotherhood literally, and focuses on the tragic circumstances that affect Jin-tae and Jin-seok’s relationship. Jin-tae, played by Jang Dong-Kun, resembles Chow Yun Fat now, more than ever, in a number of levels from his vague resemblance, to the character’s selfless preservation and consideration for his brother’s life. Male bonding no doubt. Jin-seok is played out very well by Won Bin (who plays Andrew in the Koreanovela Endless Love, and a big crush of my sister Gladys), who does a perfect job of filling out the character change from his naïve and frail arrival to his hardened and aggressive spurts later on. The conflict that arises seems to be rather run-of-the-mill, war changing people into monsters, skimpy Heart of Darkness sort of stuff, but it continues to evolve into a third act that uses the presently unique Korean theme of brother against brother, North against South, Korean against Korean, to make a tragic example of this particular situation. The movie was also supported by Lee Eun-joo (who I feel pitty with by committing suicide in real life) playing Young Shin who does a great job by spicing up some emotional moments on this mostly action movie (think of Pearl Harbor, but more seriously romantic).It’s not to say that this movie is remarkably original though. I've read this North-South conflict through human characters in Korean books before (World Guide By Rand McNally is one of my favorite book), but not viewed in the epic proportions and detail boosted by the blatant commercialism of this film. It’s something to expect though if you’re the director of Shiri (which I love also, tell you guys Schwarzenegger movies can't compete with this one), and it leads to some good, some bad. First the good. Thanks to the budget, we receive fantastically staged battles that rarely go easy on the explosions. Complete with a shaky chaotic camera (immitating the Thin Red Line), it’s safe to say it works, even if it is unpleasant and derivative of fight scenes we’ve seen before. The constructions of the sets is remarkable too, with several battle sites (which I wonder, Korea is a small country), a couple nice changes to in-city battles such as Pyongyang, and a great deal of attention to complex detail. All things you might not find particularly special if accustomed to war films, but something that is rather new for Korean cinema at the moment. With the big budget though, comes the safe bets and usual themes and script that can plague war films to truly make it a hell. Along with the character change of a hardening and desensitization to the killings, comes unbelievable situations, repetitive dialogue filler and some contrived aspects that are impossible to ignore. The first comes with convenient enemy misses when the script calls for it. With the early theme that anyone next to you can simply bite it the next second (something illustrated quite explicitly), it feels rather outlandish when characters fearlessly get up and dodge enemy fire when necessary. Also, the early scenes before the war starts are filmed in a blissfully light tone that showcases characters enjoying the little things in life like popsicles and splashing each other in the water. So in the end, what’s Taegukgi got going for it? Well it’s entertaining, and a tearjerker no doubt, and on the surface for some people, that may be all you need. While some battles can be slightly more annoying than they should, your concern for the characters should be enough to hold the film together. What held me over the most were those two things, and the added uniqueness of setting this in the Korean war with the touch of communism (which I now believe exist then in China and North Korea) in particular plot points to make it more than just battles and deaths. Thank goodness, there is such Asian Film that can compare with the likes of hollywood movies, especially when we compare it to the unintentionally funny Windtalkers (Sorry Nicholas Cage, I like you more in movies such as City Of Angels and Con Air).