T is for "Tae Guk Gi"

My choice for the war movie that starts with the letter T that best exemplifies the war movie genre is "Tae Guk Gi". South Korean war movies have a very distinctive style of portraying combat. It is combat porn, but not in a straight to video way. "Tae Guk Gi" is generally considered to be their greatest war movie. By choosing it, I recognize their contribution to the genre.

TAEGUKGI (1) vs. PANFILOV’S 28 (16)

 

 

PLOT

                “Taegukgi:  The Brotherhood of War” is a South Korean war movie released in 2004.  It was a huge hit and put Korean war movies on the map.  It is the story of two brothers who are drafted into the South Korean army in the dark early days of the war.  The older brother adapts to soldiering quickly, but his brother is not built for it.  Lee Jin-tae is told that if he wins a prestigious medal for bravery, his brother will be sent home.  He becomes obsessed with this and becomes a fanatical warrior.  His suicidal actions in combat bring fame and he becomes addicted to the combat and the glory.  Lee Jin-seok is not on board with his brother’s actions and they fall out.  In a wild twist, Jin-tae ends up in the Chinese army.  The brothers meet in battle.  The plot is highly implausible, but it links the bouts of combat porn well.  The biggest weakness is the unrealistic arc for Jin-seok.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “Panfilov’s 28 Men” is based on the legendary defense outside Moscow of a small unit of Soviet soldiers in 1941.  The plot follows the unit from a brief introduction to their digging trenches to block a German attack led by tanks.  The movie is only about the battle and nothing else.  No women appear in the film.  There are no home front scenes.  There is some intercutting for command decisions, but for the most part we spend most of the time in the trenches with the men.  There are no frills.  There is little character development.  The movie is meant to be patriotic, but manages to limit the propaganda to some low-key speechifying.  The interaction of the men makes them appealing and representative of the Red Army, at least the official version.  GRADE  =  C  (7)  

ACTING

                “Taegukgi” is a two man show.  Jang Dong-gun received some nominations for Best Actor for his performance as Jin-tae and he has a lot of charisma and is one of the biggest stars in South Korea.  Won Bin is fine as the younger brother, but is not believable as he goes from pacifist to pugilist.  The movie has the makings of a small unit movie, but the rest of the cast is given little to do.  Lee Eun-ju tugs hearts as Jin-taes fiancé who is falsely accused of being a communist.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “Panfilov’s 28 Men” is not an actor’s movie.  Only a couple of the characters make any impression.  Aleksey Morozov does the best job as the inspirational leader, but no one turns in a memorable performance.  The actors are not helped by the fact that the screenplay makes them all stoical patriots.  No one panics, no one disagrees with the suicidal nature of their mission.  No one grieves over the death of a comrade.  And no one gets a poignant death scene.  They are basically cannon fodder.  GRADE  =  C  (7)

CLICHES

                “Taegukgi” has a few minor cliches.  A soldier shows a picture of a loved one, with predicable results.  Jin-tae is seduced by glory.  He makes a promise to protect his brother.  For the most part, the plot strives to be different than the average war film.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                “Panfilov’s” doesn’t have time for cliches.  It does fit firmly in the subgenre of the last stand.  We are counting down from 28 from the start.  No German gets wounded, they all die if hit.  But this is pretty standard for war movies.  Also standard are the tanks that are sitting ducks that seldom use their machine guns or main guns.  There is something of a cavalry riding to the rescue moment at the end.  GRADE  =  B  (8)

COMBAT

                The combat in “Taegukgi” was revolutionary.  There is a high quantity of combat and the quality is great if you like over the top action.  Although often imitated by other Korean films, it has yet to be topped.  There is a huge set piece battle involving 15,000 bullets, 3,000 extras, and 500 stuntmen. There were numerous minor injuries in the 3 weeks of shooting, mostly from the fist-fighting. Director Kang Je-gyu throws in the kitchen sink in one of the most remarkable battle scenes ever filmed.  It’s very graphic and not for the squeamish.  GRADE  =  A+  (10)

                While not on a level with the combat porn of Korea, the Soviets have developed a reputation for visceral combat.  The movie is a simple battle movie and has a high percentage of combat.  I timed it at 28 minutes.  Possibly more than “Taegukgi”.  Although not as gonzo, it is guy-pleasing.  The model tanks (Pz III and IV) look authentic and are menacing, although easily destroyed.  The cinematography takes you into the trenches.  You feel like you are with the defenders.  There are a variety of weapons that are featured.  Bundles of grenades, Molotov cocktails, anti-tank artillery, and the awesome PTRD-41 anti-tank rifle.  The movie has one of the best artillery bombardment scenes.  GRADE  =  A  (9)

FINAL SCORE:  Taegukgi  34  Panfilov’s 28 Men   31

ANALYSIS

                This was pretty good for a 1/16 matchup.  Both movies are examples of the combat porn styles of their countries.  Although “Panfilov’s 28” may have more quantity, but it is such a one-dimensional movie that it can’t compare to a movie that has a complex plot to support its action.  “Taegukgi” is a bit overrated, but it still stands out in a increasingly large field of over the top combat films.  It is anything but subtle.  While clearly not based on a true story, it is more entertaining than the supposedly true Russian film.  With that said, the legend of Panfilov’s 28 Guardsmen was ripe for cinematic treatment and the movie is good at passing on the legend without making it a farce.  It is a better film than its #16 seeding would indicate. 

Taegukgi (The Brotherhood of War)

    

     “Taegukgi” is the most famous war movie to come out of South Korea. It was released in 2004 and was South Korea’s answer to “Saving Private Ryan”. It was written and directed by Kang Je-gyu and set attendance records in South Korea. The name comes from the name of the pre-war flag of Korea. It is an epic.


     The film opens at an excavation of a battle site (similar to the grave site opening in “Saving Private Ryan”) which leads to the contacting of an old Korean who is linked to one of the corpses. This leads to a flashback to Seoul in 1950 right before the war. Jin-Seok (Jang Gong-gun) and Jin-Tae (Won Bin) are brothers. Tae (that’s what I’ll call him) dreams of being a shoemaker and Seok hopes to go to college. Their happy family life comes to a screeching halt when Seok is press ganged and Tae enters the army to protect him.

     They join a unit in the trenches near the Naktong River in the Pusan Perimeter. On a mine-laying operation in no man’s land, the squad is ambushed and Tae goes Rambo (even pulling a grenade pin with his teeth). He is a natural born great shot. The violence is SPResque and the wounds are very graphic. A later attack at night ups the adrenalin with Molotov cocktails and hand-to-hand combat. Tae takes out a machine gun and then the command bunker. Tae has made a deal with his commanding officer that if he wins the Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit (the South Korean equivalent of the Medal of Honor), his brother will be discharged. The problem is that Tae becomes addicted to combat and the subsequent glory that comes with it. Meanwhile, Seok’s attitude is heading in the opposite direction as his experiences have disgusted him and he is becoming estranged from his brother.

     In October, 1950, the fighting shifts to Pyongyang for some urban combat. Tae captures an enemy captain and Seok accuses him of being a glory-hound. At a nearby village, the squad encounters countless bodies, some of which are booby-trapped. It’s retaliation time at the next town as they kill prisoners with only Seok refraining. Seok has to intervene to save the life of a friend of their’s who was forced into the North Korean army. Later, in a strange character development, Seok beats the tar out of a prisoner in a gladiator style pit.

      When Seok returns home he has a brief reunion with his fiancé Yong-shin before she is carted off by anti-communist zealots. They bring Seok, too. Yong-shin gets a great death scene as she is killed during a mutiny by the political prisoners. Seok is held captive and then dies when the “Communist” prisoners are burned alive in their jail. An enraged Tae kills the officer who gave the order and then defects to the enemy not knowing that Seok has survived.

     Tae is now a North Korea Rambo and heads an elite squad called the Flag Unit. Seok returns to the front to try to reconvert his brother. There is a huge set piece battle involving 15,000 bullets, 3,000 extras, and 500 stuntmen. There are numerous minor injuries in the 3 weeks of shooting, mostly from the fist-fighting. Director Kang Je-gyu throws in the kitchen sink in one of the most remarkable battle scenes ever filmed. There is a strafing attack by CGI Corsairs. A plane is hit and crashes into a machine gun nest. The fighting is hand-to-hand as Seok runs through the trenches seeking his brother. The Flag Unit enters the battle to boost the carnage to a peak. The brothers meet, but Tae does not recognize the ghost of his brother and is in a zone anyway. He is about to kill Seok when he is stabbed. Tae finally recognizes Seok and agrees to return with him but urges Seok to go on ahead while he holds off the North Korean army with a machine gun. His bones are found many years later.

     This is an amazing movie. I did not expect much from a South Korean film. I have to assume South Korea is a macho society because the film has more blood and guts than a vast majority of war movies. The violence is a bit over the top, but you have to admire the sheer quantity of the killing. It is “Saving Private Ryan” on meth. It is very gory. If shown in splatter-vision, you would have to burn your clothes.

     The movie has its flaws. The two leads are excellent, but the character arc of Seok is not believable. He goes from being frail to buff too quickly. His whipsawing from pacifist to pugilist is also hard to swallow. The family scenes are touching and the relationship between Seok and his fiancé is well done. Her death is heart-tugging. The rest of the roles are not fleshed out enough. We do not get to know the squad very well, unlike other small unit movies like “Platoon”. It does have a few clichés. One soldier shows off a picture of his family.  Can you guess what happens to him soon after? I wonder if this cliché seemed fresh to the South Korean audience. The score is sappy, but at least you can hear it above the explosions.  This is one loud, badass movie.

      Will it crack the 100 Best? Certainly. It could definitely kick the crap out of movies like “Guadalcanal Diary”.

8/10

the trailer



trench warfare