Tae Guk Gi

Brought a DVD yesterday after hearing about it. It's Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood) and is an epic Korean War movie. I wanted to get it as it was also the same director for one of my Favourite films 'Shiri'.

Imagine 'Saving Private Ryan' but extended for every combat scene but with two leads you can really feel for. I will leave the reviews to the links below but my own personal feeling is that this is one of the best movies I have scene in a while. War is messy and horrible and the scenes are gut wrenching. Unlike many Western movies, the film doesn't really end on a high note. It just leaves you feeling moved and saddened. It is quite anti-war in that it shows very graphically how once friends and neighbours turn on each other and kill each other like vermin. There are no real good guys or bad guys in this film - just men who fight to survive.

The two leads play brothers and their on-screen chemistry and bond is strong and carries the film. Jin Sook (the younger one) changes the most throughout the film. One complaint is that the film seems to have two endings: one in the past and one in the present. It would have been better to have one and not both. A bit like Return of the King.

Tae Guk Gi - wonderful, epic, memorable.


Guardian review

and

Rotten Tomatoes