Review of Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004) by Jordan P — 11 Jun 2010

This is a great but flawed film. First, the flaws: Its frame device of an old man visiting the recently discovered remains of his brother leads nowhere. As a result, the final two or three minutes of the movie jumps between four distinct time periods and is more than a little confusing, which is a shame considering the two and a half hours of superb filmmaking that came before. Second, some of the opening pre-war scenes drift beyond genuine sentimentality to outright mawkishness. And finally, the climactic battle has some very bad CGI fighter planes that steal entirely too much attention from what's going on.

But here's what I liked about the film: Despite some of its mawkishness, it really connected with me on the level of brotherly love and family ties. These guys really care about each other on a very deep level and that makes the action scenes meaningful because something real is at stake. As for the action, some of the battle scenes go on forever, but this was ultimately a strength because, for one, war doesn't stop and start when people get tired or aesthetic pacing demands it. The result is two hours of battle scenes that are more realistic because they're exhausting, brutal, and sometimes exceptionally ugly. War brings out both the best and worst in people, and this film shows that very well.