Review: Kan Je-Gyu's Korean War epic, TaeGukGi, comes to Canada!

Korean communities and fans of Korean cinema in Toronto and Vancouver rejoice. Korea’s highest grossing film ever [selling nearly 12 million tickets] is in theatres this Friday. Kan Je-gyu’s Korean War drama TaeGukGi is finally on this side of the 49th parallel.

Jin-Tae [Jang Dong-Gun] and Jin-Seok [Won Bin] are unwillingly conscripted in the South Korean army and sent to the front lines. Fearing for his brother’s safety, Jin-Tae volunteers for suicidal missions. His hope? To win the Medal of Honor so that he may have his younger brother sent home and away from the war. Jin-Seok misinterprets his brother’s actions as bravado and patriotism and does not see his brother’s true intentions until their fatal end. TaeGukGi is a savage, brutal and honest picture of war. Kan Je-gyu delivers, pardoning the pun, on all fronts.

The battle scenes are epic and horrifying. The violence is in your face. In hindsight, this is what Saving Private Ryan and Thin Red Line could have used more of. Savage hand to hand combat. Boys and men killing each other with what they held in their hands, even if it was just their hand.

The only thing to detract from the battle scenes was the jerky camera motions. This is a pet peeve of mine. It almost says you’re trying to hide something. For once I would like a camera to stay still and allow the audience to take in the action. You may be trying to give the effect of chaos and anarchy but all that to have in front on the camera and not the camera itself. Please. But for the most part I couldn’t tell if there was a Braveheart-in-background-fight or not b/c of the camera motion [you know that scene in the middle with the two dinks in the background swinging their swords over their heads].

There is one thing that surprised me however during the viewing tonight. And this was something that I didn’t pick up on last night when I watched my DVD copy of it at home as homework. The one thing that surprised me was the humor. The jokes caught be by surprise. Not because they were jokes but because I didn’t pick up on them until I heard the Koreans in the audience laugh around me. Perhaps it was the intonation or just that reading subtitles you may miss some what is going on screen? Koreans laughed. Caucasians did not. Thing to note, the humor may not transfer over.

Horrors of war are real and not glossed over. Both Brothers change. Everyone changes. And the horrors come from both sides of the war. Both sides are equally savage. This is perfectly portrayed late in the film when Jin-Seok fights with a North Korean P.O.W. Soon they are both covered in the thick mud and lines blur as you cannot tell South Korean from North Korean. But, Civilians. That’s another thing you don’t get very much in war movies. You don’t see the displaced. You don’t see the slaughtered. You never get a sense of what was does to the innocent in any other war film like you do in TaeGukGi. War doesn’t just effect those inflicting it upon each other. There are tragic turn of events that I won’t reveal here because you must see it for yourselves.

Kan Je-Gyu gets strong performances from all of his cast. Fans of Korean cinema will notice familiar faces amongst the supporting cast. But he gets his most emotional and gut wrenching performances from his leads. You feel their pain, torment and anger throughout. Your heart breaks for Jin-Tae. You sympathize with Jin-Seok. Their bond is real and realized in this picture.

While TaeGukGi may not be of the greatest war films ever made I certainly rank it very high in that genre. Kan Je-Gyu created a masterpiece of loyalty, honor and the everlasting bonds of brotherhood.

TaeGukGi opens in theatres in Vancouver and Toronto Friday, November 12.