Tae Guk Gi

The other night I was able to finally watch Tae Guk Gi, a Korean WWII movie.  Released back in 2004, it had taken me this long to get around to this.  I can't help but compare this movie to that of Saving Private Ryan as it is set in the same time period and how both movies started off almost the same way.  In both movies, an elderly veteran recounted their own experiences during the war.  In Tae Guk Gi, the story revolved around two brothers from a poor family who had been forcefully conscripted into the war effort as they tried to flee Seoul from an invasion by the North.

The Korean War was a subject I had read about recently and it was very refreshing to see it on screen.  Especially the during the fights that revolved around Seoul.  Where as The Front Line, another Korean War movie that revolved around the front lines between the North and South, Tae Guk Gi took viewers to many locations as they followed the brothers and their unit.  There were many impressive scenes of large scale fights in the mountains and close quarter combats in the streets and ruins of Seoul.

Despite the big budget of this production, I found that the pacing of the story was a bit too rushed at times and it also had too much melodrama.  Not only did the story dealt with the horrors of war from the perspective of two young brothers who were only a student and a shoe maker respectively, viewers were also subjected to the conflicts between the two main characters as they tried to deal with being soldiers in a war zone, and also their relationships with their fellow soldiers and their family members that they had left behind.

Despite these shortcomings, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  I just expected it to be more on the war and less on the melodrama.  I should have known better, as an avid viewer of Korean dramas, they love these kind of tragic stories.  For those who wanted more of an action movie, give The Front Line a watch.  Regardless, I think Tae Guk Gi is a good watch.