FORTRESS OF WAR (8) vs. THE FRONT LINE (9)

 

PLOT

                “Fortress of War” (“Brest Fortress”) is a Russian film released in 2010.  It chronicles the defense of Brest Fortress in the early days of Operation Barbarossa in June, 1941.  It frames the siege around the efforts of a teenage boy named Sashka who spends the movie searching for his girlfriend in the chaos of several days.  The movie focuses on the leaders of the four defense positions and their families.  The Germans keep coming and the movie has a very high amount of combat.  The Brest Fortress Museum vetted the script and the movie is accurate and entertaining.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

                “The Front Line” is a South Korean film set in the closing days of the Korean War.  It is similar to “Pork Chop Hill” because it covers attempts to capture a hill.  The battle scenes are connected by several subplots.  An army investigator named Kang is sent to investigate the fragging of an officer and possible collaboration by a unit that includes his best friend.  The unit is suffering from collective PTSD from an incident earlier in the war.  There is a female enemy sniper working for the communists that the unit has several confrontations with.  Most interestingly, there is a bunker on the hill that both sides use for fraternization since the hill changes hands numerous times.  That’s a lot of threads but the movie flows smoothly and the subplots blend with the gonzo combat well.  The themes of brotherhood, rivalry, and sympathy for the enemy (although a bit heavy-handed) are nicely laid out.   The film won the Grand Bell Award for South Korea’s best picture.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

ACTING

                “Brest Fortress” is an ensemble affair and the cast is strong.  Special recognition has to go to Aleksey Kooashov as Sashka.  He is great in what may be his only movie.  Most of the rest of the cast is unknowns as well.   They are all solid.  The movie is not propaganda, so their stolid performances match the Soviet people in a crisis like this.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

                “The Front Line” has strong performances across the board.  Ryu Seung-ryong was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Lee Je-hoon for Best New Actor.  Several others were nominated for awards besides the Grand Bells.  There is some meaty drama for them to chew on but the performances do not match the exuberance of the combat.  GRADE  =  A (9)

CLICHES

                “Fortress of War” is not laden with cliches.  It does have one of the leaders looking at a picture of his family when the attack begins.  There is one guy who tries to warn that the shit is about to hit the fan, but no one believes him.  The movie is firmly in the last stand subgenre and is the Russian equivalent of “The Alamo”, but with civilians thrown in.  GRADE  =  A (9)

                “The Front Line” does not have a standard combat movie plot, but it does have a few cliches.  It does have the newbie death.  The naïve officer gets hardened.  The soldiers are pawns.  The mission is futile.  There is a flashback worthy incident that effects the men.  GRADE  =  B (8)

COMBAT

                  Although the movie does a great job personalizing the siege, the movie is most memorable for its quantity and quality of combat.  The opening air bombardment is the best I have seen.  The first fire fight sets the stage with slo-mo, graphic wounds, hand-to-hand, and extreme action.    It reminded me of the Korean style of movies like “Tae Guk Gi”, but it is also similar to the Russian film "9^th  Company”.  There are several frenetic action scenes.  Unlike many war movies, the deaths are not ridiculously unrealistic.  And if you like explosions, this movie blows things up real good.  There is even a two-ton kilogram bomb that results in a humongous explosion.  The German use of flamethrowers is not for the squeamish.   GRADE  =  A+ (10)

                “The Front Line” is a typical Korean war movie and has their distinctive combat porn style.  Given the complex nature of the plot, there is not as much combat as in others, like “Tae Guk Gi”.  Although the framing device is the assaults on the hill, most are handled by a montage.  The movie does close with a big set piece battle.  This scene has all the bells and whistles.  Air bombardment by fighters that drop bombs they don’t have (learned from American war films).  Slo-mo.  Elegaic music.  Hand-to-hand.  A stabbing death that reminds of Mellish’s from SPR.  Graphic wounds.  Intense violence.  GRADE  =  B  (8)

FINAL SCORE:  Brest Fortress  37  The Front Line  34

ANALYSIS

                I was not looking forward to writing up this match.  I love both these movies and I am upset that my system using IMDB ratings had them facing off in the first round.  I would not have had that happen if I seeded them based on my opinion.  Both are underrated at #8 and #9.  Still, the 8/9 matchup in a tournament is supposed to be between two evenly matched competitors.  This is certainly true for these two.  In fact, I was not sure which one had won until I typed this up.  It turns out that “Brest Fortress” is clearly the better movie, given these categories.  It is less clicheish, but more importantly, it holds its own in the combat porn department and has more of it.  I’m sorry to see “The Front Line” get bounced because it is better than some of the movies that will move on to the second round, but them’s the breaks.