Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood of War)

We recently watched a DVD of "Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood of War)". It is the most profitable Korean movie ever made. The year that it was released, it made 4 times the second place film in South Korea. The film is an epic war movie that felt alot like "Saving Private Ryan". The realistic war scenes are very intense and violent. You feel like you are there. I certainly felt drained by the end of the movie. And that was on a TV screen. I am sure that the impact would have been even greater if I saw it in a theatre.

The film takes place during the Korean war, often refered to as the "Forgotten War". When people think of major wars in the 20th century, they generally think of both World Wars, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. In fact, the US government called it an "police action" rather than a war. Wikipedia reports, "More than 80% of the industrial and public facilities and transportation infrastructure, three-quarters of all government buildings, and half of all housing was destroyed." Some estimates have put the casualties as high as 2.5 million people. It is believed that 1 million South Koreans died (85% of them were civilians). The Soviet Union estmates that over 11% of North Korea died in the war. This would translate to 1,130,000 people. Eleven percent is a huge number. If this happened to the US, that would mean that 30 million people! Wow, I did not realize how devasting the Korean war was. Quite a "police action."


But the movie is about more than the war. There is a tender, personal story of loyalty and betrayal woven throughout the movie. The film follows two brothers through the war. The two lead actors (Jang Dong-Gun and Won Bin) were great in this movie. Very quickly, I was drawn into the movie and cared deeply about the brothers and the rest of their family. The movie is also about courage, jealousy and an ambiguous portrayal of heroism. As the movie develops, you can see the drastic affect the war has on the brothers as individuals, the relationship between them and their family back home.

In summary, my wife, son and I really enjoyed this movie. It is interesting how the war scenes can leave you weary and exhausted and yet at the same time, you can be greatly moved by the dramatic scenes between the brothers.