MY WAY  (4) vs.  THE 9^TH COMPANY   (13)

PLOT:

                “My Way” is a South Korean film released in 2001.  It is based on the story of a Korean soldier who supposedly served with the Japanese, was held prisoner by the Soviets and then fought for them, and ended up in Normandy fighting for the Germans.  The screenwriter took that acorn of an idea and grew an oak out of it.  Kim Jun-shik (Jong Dong-gun of “TaeGukGi”) is Korean and Tatsuo Hasegawa (singer Joe Odagiri) is Japanese and they are long distance running rivals.  Not friendly rivals.  The movie has an exciting marathon race that shows the Koreans can stage exciting things besides battles.  Jun-shik gets conscripted into the Japanese army and is sent to the Mongolian border to face the Soviet Army.  Tatsuo is his commanding officer and war does not help them bond, at least not for 2/3 of the movie.  They are on an odyssey that will take them from a Soviet prison camp to Normandy.  The plot is outlandish, but entertaining.  It has the usual gonzo combat, but the central conflict between the two characters has a nice flow to it, if predictable.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “9^th Company” is a Russian movie released in 2005.  It is a small unit dynamics movie that ends up as an outpost movie.  A heterogeneous squad of men bond in boot camp and then get sent to Afghanistan.  They have run-ins with the local mujahadeen and this builds to the big last stand set piece at the end.  You’ll be wondering who will survive early on. The plot reminds of “Platoon” but without all the dysfunction.  However, non-Russians will get a good taste of soldier life and behavior in Afghanistan.  The deaths are not predictable other than you know they are coming.  The characters are appealing.  GRADE  =  A (9)

ACTING

                “My Way” is a three man show.  Besides Jong and Odagiri, Kim In-kwon plays Jun-shik’s comic relief best friend.  He becomes a loathsome collaborator and keeps the movie from being a simplistic hero versus villain routine.  All three are good with Jong showing why he is such a big star.  Special credit has to go to Odagiri for making Tatsuo’s arc from hiss-worthy to empathy-worthy believable.  The rest of the cast is fine and the movie throws in Fan Bingbing (I couldn’t go without mentioning that name) as a Chinese sniper.  The role is ridiculous, but her performance is fine and it adds some femininity to an otherwise heavily testosterone plot.  GRADE  =  A (9)

                “9^th Rota” is an ensemble affair.  All of the men in the core group are fine and no one stands out.  The roles are basically stereotypes, so there is not a lot of heavy-lifting.  There’s some charisma, especially from their PTSD drill instructor.  Mikhail Porechenkov could hold his own with R. Lee Ermey.   He won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor.  One of best performances is by the director himself.  Fedor Bondarchuk plays the group’s Warrant Officer in Afghanistan.  GRADE  =  B (8)

CLICHES

                The whole plot is based on the old enemies bond cliché.  This may be predictable, but the route is not standard.  They start off as marathon rivals and end up as buddies.  Jong-dae gets a redemption arc.  Otherwise the movie is pretty cliché-free.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “9^th Company” was meant to be Russia’s answer to foreign small unit movies.  This is obvious as one of the first scenes has the recruits having their hair sheared off.  Then we are introduced to the various personalities.  They are all recognizable, but none are from Brooklyn.  The drill instructor is hard as rock.  There is a training camp montage.  When they arrive in Afghanistan, they are met by outgoing, grizzled veterans.  There’s a party in the bunker.  And this all culminates in the last stand against the enraged natives.  GRADE  =  D  (6)

COMBAT

                If you’ve seen any South Korean war films, you know they have their own style of combat.  “My Way” is typical, but it has lower percent of combat than others like “Tae Guk Gi”.  Part of this is because of the long stay in the prison camp, but that experience is almost as intense as the action scenes.  The first battle does not occur until the 26 minute mark, but it’s worth the wait as tanks set oil wells on fire, among other things.  The second battle features suicide trucks versus tanks.  It is as gonzo as you can get.  The movie finishes with D-Day and although it is influenced by “Saving Private Ryan”, it manages to throw in every type of explosion in just five minutes.  GRADE =  A+  (10)

                It seems “9^th Company” was influenced by South Korean war movies.  I have seen a lot of Soviet/Russian war movies and it looks like they took a turn toward modern combat staging and cinematography in the early 2000’s.  Some of the movies are cheesy, but the better budgeted ones stand up to Korean films.  The final battle lasts an astounding 45 minutes.  It does not have everything but the kitchen sink like in “My Way” and is thus more realistic, but no less intense.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

FINAL SCORE:  My Way  35  9^th Company  32

ANALYSIS

                This was an unfortunate matchup.  I am a big fan of both of the movies.  I hate to see either leave the tournament this early, but because of the seeding system, they faced each other in the first round.  This is partly the fault of the IMDB rating system, which has “9^th Company” underrated.  Also, the cliches category hurt it, which is unfair because it is unabashedly clichéish.  And its strengths were matched by “My Way”.  I do feel “My Way” is the better movie, but I can see why some would disagree.  “My Way” has the more interesting plot and that is because it is so unique.  It has better combat and that is what the tournament is all about.