Two brothers are conscripted into the South Korean army, where the elder tries to protect the younger from the ensuing horrors. Epic war film from writer-director Kang Je-Gyu
The South Korean film industry has become increasingly dynamic and well known in the West in the early 21st century thanks to the offbeat, small scale films of directors like Chan-Wook Park (Oldboy), Ki-Duk Kim (Bad Guy) and Joon-Ho Bong (Memories Of Murder). Here, Je-Gyu Kang ups the scale and shifts genre for his follow-up to the 1999 action blockbuster Shiri with this epic tale of two brothers caught up in the chaos of the Korean War.
It's June 1950 in Seoul. Jin-Tae (Jang) is a cobbler working to support his family, while his bright but weak-hearted younger brother Jin-Soek (Bin) studies to enter university. Despite having lost their father, and hardworking mother (Young-Ran Lee) being debilitated, the family holds itself together, and Jin-Tae is on the verge of marrying Young-Shin (Eun-Joo Lee). Suddenly, war breaks out and both brothers are forcibly conscripted. With no preparation or training, they find themselves on the Nakong River defence line, joining the forces desperately trying to reverse the shock invasion of the communist North Koreans.
As Jin-Soek is the family's hope for the future, Jin-Tae determines to try and get him released from service, approaching an officer and vowing, "I'll do whatever I can if you will send him home". He volunteers for the most dangerous jobs and fights with unprecedented vigour. As the US enters the war, and the South Koreans push north, Jin-Tae becomes increasingly shaped by the violence around him. But is he brave or foolhardy? Jin-Soek, himself becoming hardened by the brutal world they've entered, despairs of his brother. "What the hell are you doing? You think you're bullet proof!" he yells. Jin-Tae reaffirms his vow though. "I won't die until I get you back home safely."
As tensions rise between the brothers, the situation between North and South also worsens. The South Koreans push all the way north, but then the Chinese enter the war and push them back. A stalemate is established along the 38th parallel, the line that previously marked the sectors controlled by the USSR and the USA after the defeat of the Japanese in World War Two.
