Director – Kang Je-gyu – 2004 – South Korea – Cert. 15 – 140m
****
When two brothers are conscripted into the Korean War, the older one’s attempts to keep the younger from harm’s way irrevocably damage their filial relationship – plays in LEAFF10 (London East Asia Film Festival 2025) with an In Conversation session with Production Designer Shin Bo-kyeong on Monday, October 27th
Named after the South Korean national flag, this latest Kang Je-Gyu (The Gingko Bed, 1996; Shiri, 1999) offering tells the story of two young Korean brothers caught up in the Korean War (initiated when the Communist North invaded the South in 1950). Like numerous other Oriental movies (e.g Bullet In The Head, John Woo, 1990), the considerable, historical detail realised on the screen is secondary to the emotionally charged, interpersonal core drama.
Thus, shoe shine boy and older sibling Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-gun from Nowhere To Hide, Lee Myung-se, 1999) is saving to send little brother Jin-Seok (Won Bin) to university. When war breaks out, younger brother is conscripted, with elder brother forcibly joined up only when he tries to have Jin-Seok’s conscription reversed. Leaving behind girlfriend Young-Shin (Lee Eun-doo), Jin-Tae learns that his earning the medal of honour might secure Jin-Seok’s release, so sets about on the one hand undertaking as many dangerous missions as possible and on the other refusing to allow Jin-Seok to do so. But he hasn’t counted on his actions alienating his little brother.
Impressively staged bloody battle scenes clearly belong to the cinema post-Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998); more striking, however, are the chilling political realities shown in passing: witness Young-Shin’s attending Communist rallies for free food only to later find herself on the hit list of government death squads. Aimed at a South Korean audience, the piece assumes a prior knowledge of the basic historical timeline; those who check out the background history beforehand will have a clearer idea of events depicted.
Cast: Jang Dong-Kun, Won Bin, Lee Eun-Ju, Kong Hyeong-Jin, Lee Yeong-Ran, Choi Min-Sik, D. C. Douglas, Jo Yun-Hie, Jung Doo-Hong, Kim Bo-Kyeong
Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War plays in LEAFF10 (London East Asia Film Festival 2025) with an In Conversation session with Production Designer Shin Bo-kyeong on Monday, October 27th.
Review originally published in What’s On in London, 2004.
UK release title: Taegukgi.
Trailer (US):