Message from efoster

[Anonymous]

Tai Guk Gi or the Brotherhood of War is a great Korean film about two brothers whose lives and love for each other is torn apart as a result of their forced military service in the early stages of the Korean War. Best watched with English subtitles (for the English speaker), this film is rated “R” for fairly continuous war violence and is geared to a mature audience.

This Korean film has won critical acclaim in the Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Art Direction, and Sound Effects categories at the Beaksang and Deajong Awards Ceremonies.

Tae Guk Gi is a 148 minute story about two brothers love for each other and how war changes these boys into men with competing motivations. Jin-tae, the older and more physical brother, vows to protect his younger and more studious brother, Jin-seok, from the ravages of the war. (Jin-tae sees it as his sole responsibility since the death of his father to protect and nuture his younger brother so that he may attend college, as Jin-seok is the pride of the family and has the greatest chance at attending college.) At one point in the movie, Jin-tae even brokers a deal with his superiors to exhibit exceptional courage and bravery in combat in order to free Jin-seok from the bonds of military service. Jin-seok sees Jin-tae’s bravado and exceptional “acts of courage” during battle as loving war and the act of killing. Jin-tae disregards Jin-seok’s concern and continues to pursue the path to Jin-seok’s freedom despite a complete deterioration of their relationship. The ravages of war then effect the lives of their loved ones in their own village, and the brothers drift farther apart both physically and emotionally.

Without “giving away” the ending, Jin-seok ends up deeply affected by the loss of the relationship with his brother and seems to carry this despair throughout the rest of his life.

This DVD comes with a Special Feature disk that includes interviews with war veterans and historians (very interesting) and the usual making of the film features.

As stated earlier, this film, in its entirety, is not suitable for the school environment. Edited scenes from the film would be appropriate to show in a class that covers recent Korean and Chinese history and family relationships.

I would recommend Tae Guk Gi to anyone interested in the Korean War and/or people who enjoy war genre films like Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.