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TAEGUKGI "Two Brothers in the War" Korean Movie 3 DVD gift set Item No: 2737 Original Price: $39.99 Save: $5.00 Our Price: $34.99 Qty:

Additional Information: About the movie "TAE GUK GI" AKA Two Brothers in the War

In the beginning of 2004 the South Korean film industry was shaken twice within 2 months. First, Silmido broke every imaginable record and pulled 11 million people into the theaters when it opened in December 2003, making it the most watched film ever in Korea. Then in February 2004, Taegukgi surpassed that record up, by moving almost 12 million tickets. That means a third of the population saw these films. But Silmido and Taegukgi share more than impressive boxoffice numbers. Both films deal with the relations to North Korea, and both films are - in one way or another - about war.

A dusty skull is slowly uncovered as a brush carefully exposes the remains of a skeleton. The skull lies next to a bullet riddled soldier's helmet. We're at an excavation. A memorial site for the Korean war is under development. Archaeologists are working, trying to identity the scattered remains of the brave men who once fought on these fields, and made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Elsewhere an old man, Lee Jin-Seok, receives a phone call from the army. They've found a body that they suspect is his, and they're calling to confirm that he is, in fact, still alive. This blast from the past brings about old memories. Jin-Seok picks up an old photo and thinks back...

Seoul 1950. Jin-Seok (Won Bin) and his older brother Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-gun) run though the streets of their hometown, without a care in the world. They have everything they need. Clothes on their backs, food on the table, and a loving family. The brothers live with their mother, their much younger siblings, and Jin-Tae's soon-to-be wife Young-Shin (Lee Eun-Joo).

This tranquil existence is shattered when war breaks out. North Korea has invaded, and the family is forced to abandon their home, as it is on the verge of the border.

While the family is making its way to safer grounds, soldiers arrive and take Jin-Seok into custody. All men capable of carrying arms must report for duty, whether they like it or not. Jin-Tae try to free his brother, but he too is captured, and both of the brothers suddenly find themselves on an army train, heading straight to war.

Cut to a brutal battlefield. Scared inexperienced young men move through the crude trenches, with explosions going off everywhere. It rains bullets and everything is soaked in mud. Jin-Seok and Jin-Tae manage to stay alive through the first harrowing battles, and eventually they find themselves in a small tight-knit group of soldiers.

After a long siege, the men are starting to go crazy. There's no water, no food, and they are slowly dying. As a last resort Jin-Tae suggests that they attack, instead of just defending. An unprecedented move that is sure to surprise the North soldiers. With new-found vigour, the starving men attack the other side.

The attack is a success, earning Jin-Tae the respect of the men and his superiors. Jin-Seok, on the other hand, grows increasingly frustrated with his brother. Jin-Tae volunteers for every mission, the more suicidal the better, in an effort to earn a Medal of Honor. Such a medal will enable him to request that his brother be send home. The pursuit of this medal bec0omes the only thing on his mind. Soon Jin-Seok can't even recognise his own flesh and blood any more. The war drives a wedge between the brothers. As the world crumbles around them, so does the relationship they used to have.

War changes people, but some more than others. Will these two brothers ever be able move past their differences and reconcile? Will they even make it home in one piece? And will this useless war ever end...?


Review: By Robert K. Elder (Chicago Tribune)

Korean wartime epic "Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War" belongs to that brand of sweeping, conflict-era drama epitomized by "Saving Private Ryan," "Gone with the Wind" and TV miniseries "North and South."

What makes "Tae Guk Gi" such an extraordinary film isn't its solid, family-based core or the choreographed chaos of its battle scenes--although both contribute. Instead, writer/director Kang Je-gyu dedicates himself to the human side of a grand tale, to people who've been uprooted by history.

When brothers Jin-tae (Jang Dong-gun) and Jin-seok (Won Bin) are forced into the South Korean army in 1950, an officer tells older sibling Jin-tae the only way to send his baby brother home is to win medals and fame. Thereafter, Jin-tae volunteers for the most brutal, dangerous missions (caught on film with handheld "Saving Private Ryan"-style cinematography) with little regard for his life.

This would ordinarily be enough to fill an entire movie, but Kang follows his characters into darker territory. As Jin-tae shelters his younger brother, he does so with almost blind disregard for anything else. War changes him, warping his moral compass until Jin-seok begins to question if his older brother's motives are for the good of the family, or his own glory.

When the brothers' platoon runs into a family friend forced to fight on the North Korean side, Jin-tae simply wants to slaughter him and his whole group--a conflict that draws one of many wedges between the two brothers.

Director Kang doesn't play politics, although the name "Tae Guk Gi" is the name of South Korea's national flag. He isn't interested in retelling the story of the war, or the finer philosophical points of each side. He's almost singularly preoccupied with war's realities, and how conflict lays siege to family and friends.

While Kang owes much to "Saving Private Ryan," he avoids Spielberg's tendency to make the military company a microcosm of ethnic and social stereotypes. Kang also doesn't moralize much, and the film is served much better by his embrace of the battlefield and its consequences.

As Jin-tae, famous Korean actor Jang has the most to do; his performance requires the most range and steely-eyed determination. Especially in a heart-wrenching scene on the train that takes the brothers to the boot camp, we're riveted to his inner struggle, even when the subsequent battle scenes run near-continuous to the point of desensitization.

If the gritty triumph of "Tae Guk Gi" suffers at all, it's from a lengthy running time and a twist ending that threatens the credibility of Jin-tae's character arc. But even with this damaging bit of cinematic shrapnel, "Tae Guk Gi" will be talked about for years to come--and it deserves to be.