I thought this movie was very good. It has its flaws (which I will get into later), but overall, it's a very well done piece of cinema. This film, along with many others is proof that Korean movies, and by extension Asian movies, have grown up and are ready to seriously compete with Hollywood for global influence, audience and market share. I am impressed with Tae Guk Gi's attention to detail, special effects, cinematography and other high production standards.Now, enough people here give you a quick synopsis of the story and adequate description of the plot, so what I am going to do is respond to some of the comments that other reviewers have made. I think my input might be helpful be cause I am a Korean raised in North America and can understand both worlds and explain things that were either misinterpreted or not clearly understood by non-Korean reviewers.
Some non-Korean reviewers have commented that it seemed like there was some over acting or acting "over the top" going on. Well, believe it or not, Koreans act like that in real life. They are emotional by nature, yell at each other a lot, slap around their younger peers, etc. Jin Sok and Jin Tae's mother collapsing after the train departs looks like something a Korean mother would do in that situation. What some non-Koreans would consider as "overacting" I would, as someone from a Korean background, consider realistic and normal (give the extreme situations that the characters go through). Anyone who thinks overacting is purposely going on in this movie needs to join the peace corp or something and get exposed to other cultures in different parts of the world.
One reviewer thought that Koreans fought unusually well given their supposed reputation at the time as poor soldiers. Well yes, South Korean soldiers did run away and retreat from North Koreans early in the war. South Koreans were badly underequipped and poorly trained because the U.S. thought their priorities in 1949 were in rebuilding Japan, not stop communism in the Korean peninsula. It's interesting to note that U.S. soldiers early in the war also broke and fled the field because they were fat and lazy occupation troops formally stationed in Japan. Jin Tae and Jin Sok were in the 1st ROK division commanded by the brilliant 29 year old general Paik Sun Yup. The 1st ROK division never broke or fled the field without orders. It reached Pyongyang before any U.S. units despite the fact that they didn't have as many motor vehicles and was largely a foot mobile unit. Thus, the scenes were ROK troops are fighting without U.S. support in the streets of Pyongyang are largely true. Speaking of General Paik, if any of you want to read a Korean War history book that's from a fair Korean perspective, read Paik's book entitled "From Pusan to Panmunjom." It's available on Amazon.
I understand that this movie has been compared quite a bit with Saving Private Ryan. I have to say that in the areas of intensity, dramatic power and overall sincerity, I believe Tae Guk Gi supasses Saving Private Ryan. However, in terms of battlefield realism and special effects, I believe SPR surpasses TGG. To me, the battlefield effects are a notch below SPR, but a notch above John Woo combat movies like Windtalkers. I mean, molotov cocktails exploding like motar rounds when they should really flash and flame modestly, machine guns blaze without spent cartridges being expended, the tanks look like an inaccurate cross between a Sherman and a Pershing, cannon rounds and grenades alike all seem to have the same size explosions, so on and so forth (btw, Jin Tae does not walk through a hail of gun fire from a "mini-gun". That Russian machine gun is not a gatling-type "mini-gun" it is infact a conventional, single barrel Pulemet Maksima obrazets, vintage World War 1. The cylindrical sleeve is to help keep that single barrel from overheating). Having said that, the battle scenes are nonetheless highly entertaining and better then 90% of all other war movies. However, due to those modest technical slips, I give the movie 4 and not 5 stars.
The older brother is determined to protect the younger one. He risks his life to go on dangerous missions because he knows that if he receives a medal, the younger brother will be able to get out of the army. The battles are gruesome and real and better than any I have ever seen. I understand that the director accomplished this with a very small budget and I have nothing but applause for him for this effort. There's a human side of every battle, and I felt real emotion watching them.
Somewhere along the line, the older brother turns into a monster of aggression. Not only does he show exceptional bravery, he also shows exceptional cruelty.
This story goes deep into the heart of Korean national identity. Both sides are equally cruel to ordinary villagers who are just trying to survive. But one thing is clear and that is the bond between the brothers even though they eventually wind up in opposing armies. This is a serious film about brotherhood. And it is also a film about Korea. Actually, it helped me understand what is happening there today.
The film is 2 hours and 20 minutes long and it didn't drag for one single moment. Something new is happening constantly, whether it is the relationship between the brothers, the different kinds of battles, or the horror in Seoul when the South Koreans are executing North Korean sympathizes and the brothers see their family involved.
If you hate watching war films, stay away from this one. This is surely one of the bloodiest I've ever seen. But if you are interested in history and in the impact war has on people, this film will help you understand. It might haunt your nightmares, but it is certainly worthwhile. War film buffs especially should make a note not to miss it. Highly recommended.
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TAE GUK GI (literally translated, is the name of the South Korean Flag) or THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR is one of the most consistently moving, desperately realistic, harrowingly poignant films about war in the international motion picture repertoire. While many directors and writers have prolifically produced films about the Civil War in the US, World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, and other wars from other countries, few have touched on the Korean War. Director Kang Je-gyu corrects that omission with this dazzling epic and in doing so, he elects to make the story of that war a tale of two brothers (a metaphor for the North vs. South Korean conflict ignited by the fires of communism versus capitalism).Jin-tae (the strikingly handsome and fine actor Jang Dong-gun) shines shoes and works at small jobs to encourage his younger brother Jin-seok (the refined and delicate actor Won Bin) to study to go to college to be the saviour of their poor family. The degree of camaraderie of these two brothers is some of the most touchingly portrayed on film. The joy of this South Korean family fills the screen for the first moments of the film, only to change abruptly on June 25, 1950 when suddenly the North Koreans attack at the 38th parallel, forcing communism and death down the throats of the South Koreans. Jin-tae realizes he must join the South Korean army to protect his mistakenly conscripted brother from the horrors of war.
The remainder of the film explores the progress of this war with great detail, leaving no battle untold and visually depicting the atrocities of war more brutally than any other film of this genre. But overriding the visuals of the war is the relationship of the two brothers, their reliance one each other, and the gradual transformation of Jin-tae into a well-trained soldier bent on being a hero to gain medals, for in doing so, he is assured that the younger, worthier Jin-seok can return home to safety.
The poison of war infects Jin-tae's personality and he becomes obsessed with killing, a fact that eventually frightens Jin-seok into believing that his brother's criteria have changed for the worse. The two are split, Jin-seok is mistakenly taken captive as a 'communist sympathizer' when he briefly returns to his home, and when Jin-tae feels he has lost not only his brother's love but that his brother is dead, Jin-tae's rage drives him to join the ranks of the North Koreans.
How the truth of the misinformation that always accompanies war tears at the bond of the brothers is finally resolved in a way that explains the futility and madness of war as clearly as has been captured on film. Credit Director writer Kang Je-gyu and his extraordinary cast and crew with not only making us understand the elusive history of the Korean War, but also the universal lessons that we still fail to recall whenever conflicts merge into warheads.
The DVD is accompanied by a separate disc that includes the 'making of the film' and a lot of the history of the Korean War by scholars and veterans of that war. This is a monumental achievement that deserves as wide attention internationally as it gained upon its release in South Korea in 2004. A tough, yet ultimately tender film, with the sanctity of familial love at its roots. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, February 2005
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Nations do not fight wars. Citizens fight them, and these citizens are honorable men and women who serve their country willingly or, as history shows, by decree of a desperate government.As a result, patriotism has become the unlikeliest casualty. Once welcomed in the trenches of battle, patriotism has lost its limbs, fought back from life support, and suffered shell shock. Once easily recognized, patriotism has become a bit of a chimera, an ideal more easily attached to definable characteristics than it is any single soldier. However, in the bitter end, patriotism is defined by the actions of these individuals who serve; it is rewarded by the nations who sponsor this service; and, more often than not, it is measured in hardships endured.
Such is the complex, ever-changing battleground of writer/director Kang Je-Gyu's "Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War."
In 1950's Seoul, Jin-Seok (Won Bin) and his older brother Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-gun) are enjoying a strong family life of perfect happiness. Suddenly, they find their lives turned upside down as soldiers of the South Korean government seize them all men aged 18 to 30 are taken and they are forced to take up arms despite their lack of training against the approaching North Koreans. On one brutal battlefield after another, the bonds of family are put to increasingly demanding tests as Jin-Tae originally driven by his responsibility to protect his younger brother continues to further exhaust his physical and emotional prowess despite the protests of Jin-Seok. He learns that he is a good soldier, one with a talent for inspiring others as well as an unanticipated thirst for killing the enemy. Eventually, these two brothers once bound by a love for family find themselves at odds within this new brotherhood of war, and the pressures to prove one another continue to exact heavier and heavier tolls as the war escalates. As circumstances evolve, the brothers inevitably find themselves on opposite sides of a losing conflict ... but can either find a path to redemption or reconciliation that can save both of them?
There are many elements of "Taegukgi" that elevate the film from the status of standard war film to a message of hope set against the backdrop of war. The film's scope is grand, dealing with the far more intimate themes of family, brotherhood, and personal responsibility when Director Kang Je-Gyu could have easily opted for banging the drum of nationalism. At its core, "Taegukgi" is the story of two brothers, a strikingly poignant analogy for the entire North Korea / South Korea dilemma. While the battlefield choreography is as frenetic as it is harrowing, it never takes the film's center: this picture is founded on relationships the human perspective to the world outside and it never falters. Instead of focusing on history, Kang Je-Gyu crafts every scene to highlight the thoughts, actions, and emotions of the participants of history, and, for that, "Taegukgi" deserves countless accolades.
Much like exploring the heart of darkness as depicted in American classics as Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" and Oliver Stone's "Platoon," Kang Je-Gyu forces Jin-tae to explore his own budding evil, and this journey is not without its own relative scars. Once a man has crossed over and embraced wartime madness, can he ever truly find a way out? Arguably, if "Taegukgi" suffers from any setback, it is that perhaps Jin-tae goes too far for an audience to accept his madness: believing his brother to have been killed by North Koreans, Jin-tae turns traitor once he is captured and seeks to wipe out every soldier serving South Korea. While the story offers the motivation for so drastic a change, it's hard to believe that the man who once fought so valiantly against the spread of Communism would suddenly choose to embrace it.
Still, it's a small diversion ... but it's necessary to bring the aspect of brotherhood full circle, to have these two unique men face their darkest hour, and to make one final statement on the role that family inevitably plays in every man's life.
Recently, thanks to the worldwide success of "Taegukgi" and 1999's blockbuster "Shiri," Director Kang Je-Gyu has signed an agreement with Hollywood's own powerhouse, CAA, to produce his next film in America. Only time will tell whether or not this agreement will afford some of the "Korean sensibility" to American films, but certainly having one of South Korea's premier directors breaking into the Hollywood film system is a tremendous advantage for fans of international film.
Only the passage of time will earn "Taegukgi" its rightful spot alongside the other great films dealing with the consequences of war.
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Once in a while, which in this case has been years, comes a movie that makes me want to rise above the meager existance to be something larger than life, to be part of the movie. This movie did that to me.It started with the life of two brothers before the war, a life that was almost perfect until the war shatters it. Everything goes downhill from there. Despite all their best intentions, the two brothers helplessly watched their fate sinking and themselves drifting apart. Overall it's a very intense tragedy, dotted with only moments of hope and triumgh.
The unconditional love between the two brothers, tangled with cruelty of war, made the movie so heart-wrenching that it's almost painful to watch. I can't imagine what it feels like to be the little brother who had to carry this for the next 50 years, not knowing where his brother is, and with the pair of shoes to remind him that they had it perfect for a while.
Being a big war-movie fan, I have watched a ton of them. This one is definitely among the best. Comparing to "Saving Private Ryan", this movie gives characters a more human touch. "SPR" seems to moralize too much, no flaws, just hero's. The result is the characters came off plain and two-dimensional. Agree with some reviewer's comments that "SPR almost seems like nothing more than a visually stunning, flag-waving movie". By the way, I am a big fan of Steven Spielburg and Tom Hanks, so there wasn't any bias there. On a side note, "Band of brothers", on the contrary, is very good.
As for special effects, it's good. But we have seen it all in big-budget Hollywood movies, so that's not what made this movie special. It's the intense human emotion made this movie an unforgettable experience. Hats off to Koreans for making such a great epic. I think this one deserve an Oscar. If a movie like "Lord of the Ring" can win something, so should this.
The only complaints that I could think of are: 1. The movie can get quite sentimental from time to time, especially the music during the beginning of the movie. 2. The camera shakes too much during action scenes, probably deliberately, to create the chaos with a limited budget. But I don't have a problem with the length of the movie. The 2.5 hrs felt like nothing once you are drawn into the intensity of the movie. Actually when the movie finished, I wished it didn't have to end, or at least didn't have to end like that.
As for some reviewer shooting down the movie because of a Hershey Bar with barcode, give me a break. I would rather watch a movie like this with 10 bloopers than one that gets all the details right but doesn't touch a soul.
IMHO, Matt Zoller Seitz from New York Press wrote the most accurate review on this movie: "Tae Guk Gi bypasses academic concerns and plugs straight into one's emotions. To watch it is to understand another country's fears and dreams-an opportunity that does not come along every day."
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