9/5/05 Movie - Tae Guk Gi

So far we have not had a single American film... excellent. Last night for the third installment of Masterbonus Theater we watched Tae Guk Gi, a sort of Korean Saving Private Ryan. Excellent pick, Skeeter. I was most aroused.

It's a movie that takes place during the Korean War, about two brothers who end up being drafted to fight for South Korea. It's a fantastic combination of Asian fraternal melodrama with big-budget American epic. It takes much from Saving Private Ryan stylistically, yet it manages to expand upon the familiar "war is hell" theme with none of Steven Spielberg's unavoidable sentimentality. The war itself is portrayed in shades of grey, with neither side coming out as particularly heroic. This is interesting, considering the fact that even after 50-plus years neither side of Korea is particularly friendly with the other.

You can't really discuss a war movie without commenting on the action. Basically, it's "holy cow holy cow holy cow... I think I just wet myself." The movie itself is 148 minutes, approximately 120 of which are violent depicitions of dismemberment, shootings, bludgeonings, stabbings, explosions, beatings, and maggots. You'd expect the audience to be overwhelmed with the non-stop intensity, but the director (Je-gyu Kang) varies the battles enough and keeps you on your toes with jarring visual surprises. That, and considering that I think the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan is one of the highest possible achievements of cinema (I'm being serious), I have to say that this movie was both savory and delicious. And not for the faint of heart. (As Social Worker Ann said, "Yeah, we get it already! War is fucking horrible! Why do they have to show it?")

Tae Guk Gi is a definite must-see for any fan of war movies, though, like all the good ones, it may be too hard to watch repeatedly.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/