Movie: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War

Guess I should’ve expected this when superstars like Jang Dong Gun and Won Bin team-up. Great casts, great effects, great story, great scenes; bottom line: GREAT movie. It was really easy to shed tears for it. I started it, I think, at the first 15 minutes of the film, and after that a river of tears seemed to follow endlessly.

Here’s the story (some I’ve got from yesasia.com): Its tale revolves around two brothers during the outbreak of the Korean War in the 50's. The rules stated that only one man should be taken from a family in order to carry out the family name, but the two of them were enlisted in the army by force. Jin-Tae (Dong Gun) made every effort to excel in his duties in order to obtain an early release from the military services for his younger brother Jin-Seok (Won Bin).

Unaware of his older brother's good intentions, the misunderstandings between the two involuntary soldiers keep on accumulating. But I think there were times when Jin-Tae had lost his focus and get drifted by the joy of fame and glory. When the news of their mother illness came to Jin-Seok, he went home and Jin-Tae who had became a hero followed. Unfortunately, afterwards, serial of dramatic happenings led the two brothers’ lives into twisted turns.

Yes, if you don’t like war movies, you’ll probably find Taegukgi a little hard to enjoy. So all those mud, blood, body parts flying scenes were better of well expected from the start. Don’t picture seeing clean and nice looking Jang Dong-Gun and Won Bin, cause they were really dirty, literally. Still I like this movie not just because my eyes were completely cleansed after watching it, but also the thorough history background of it. The emotion and psychological sides of the history were seriously explored, they reached out to the audience, making us felt and condemned the hellish thing called war!

Casts: Jang Dong Gun, Won Bin, Choi Min Sik
Genre: Action, Drama, War; 2004;
Language: Korean

Awards and Nominations:
Best Photography Winner (Dae Jong Award Festival 2004)
Best Sound Effect Winner (Dae Jong Award Festival 2004)
Best Photography Winner (Blue Dragon Film Awards 2004)
Best Actor Winner (Blue Dragon Film Awards 2004)
Technical Work Winner (Blue Dragon Film Awards 2004)
Best Film Winner (100 Sang Film Award 2004)