Review: TAEGUKGI: THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR is a Heartbreaking Tale from the Korean War

By Chris Horn

You would be hard-pressed to find a more compelling and difficult to portray subject than war. Having successfully proven himself with his 1999 action film Shiri, director Kang Je-gyu once more took a look at the breakout of violence between North and South Korea in Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War. While comparisons to Saving Private Ryan (1998) are inevitable, Taegukgi cuts to the heart of a different kind of war with less clearly defined lines and much more personal stakes for its characters.

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New Korean Films: The Taste of Love and The Love of Taste (2015 Week 18)

Love Clinic

(연애의 맛)

By Fabien Schneider

Two doctors are opening their cabinet on the same floor. One of them is Kil Shin-seol, an urologist who knows everything about men’s sexuality, while the other is Wang Sung-ki, an obstetrician who knows more about female sexual attributes than their minds. But both of them have barely even had relationships, thanks to their own behaviors and fears. As they become fond of each other, they also start to treat each other as their own patients.

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New Korean Films: The Last Stand Against the Avengers (2015 Week 17)

Coin Locker Girl

(차이나타운)

By Fabien Schneider

A baby girl named Il-young has been left in the locker number 10 of a subway station. She’s taken in by a woman who rules Chinatown thanks to her many adopted many children. With the years passing Il-young becomes one of the most efficient members of the gang. One day, she meets the son of one of her mom’s clients, a friendly and charming young man. She suddenly gets curious about this new world outside of the gloomy atmosphere of Chinatown. It’s at this moment that her mom gives her one last mission.

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New Korean Films: Homages To Parents (2015 Week 16)

Clown of a Salesman

(약장수)

By Fabien Schneider

Il-beom worked many jobs in his attempt to pay back his loans but his bad reputation always come in the way. Most importantly, his daughter is in need of a treatment for her illness, and this won’t come cheap. That’s why Il-beom starts working at an “information center” despite his initial aversion, because under this cover lies a PR company that organizes events for older women in the intent to sell them healthy food and daily necessities. But he soon realizes that these women are mostly mothers who barely even get visits from their adult children, and that he’s making their lives merrier. One day, Ok-nim, who lives alone so as not to burden her prosecutor son, joins the center and becomes friend with Il-beom.

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New Korean Films: People Who Lend a Hand (2015 Week 15)

Black Hand

(검은손)

By Fabien Schneider

Jung-Woo is a married man, but he also has a secret relationship with Yoo-gyeong, one of the doctors he’s working with in a hospital. He works there as a neurosurgeon, but also does research on bioengineering. One day, Yoo-gyeong gets her right hand cut off under strange circumstances. But thanks to Jung-Woo’s reflexes and his skills, he manages to do the operation to put it back on her arm. During the following days, while Yoo-gyeong seems to have perfectly recovered, she starts to lose her mind. When asked, she pretends that there is now someone else in her.

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New Korean Films: Les Amours des séniors (2014 Week 14)

Salut d'Amour

(장수상회)

By Fabien Schneider

The unfriendly and inflexible old man Seong-chil, who is a model employee at Jang-su Mart and proud of his military career and never thinks of other’s feelings, suddenly breaks his outer shell when a woman moves to his neighborhood. Geum-nim looks young despite her age, always smiling in any situation. She takes him by surprise when she offers to him to have dinner together. Even if he tries not to care, he cannot hide his feelings and soon everybody is in the know, even Geum-nim’s daughter and Seong-chil’s boss, and they try to give them advice for their first date. But after having almost forgotten the date, he arrives late for their rendezvous and accidentally discovers her secret.

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New Korean Films: Balls Delivery (2015 Week 13)

Foulball

(파울볼)

By Fabien Schneider

Kim Sung-keun has been a baseball coach to many internationally successful players. Along with many young people who dream of becoming a professional player, he also created South-Korea’s first independent baseball team, the Goyang Wonders. Their training is really intense and demanding, but this is what it takes if they want to one day join the national league. During the first three years of their existence, they surprised a lot of experts with their impressive record: 90 wins, 25 ties and 61 losses. So far 31 players have been able to sign with professional teams. However at the beginning of 2014 season, the Goyang Wonders announced to the public that they would soon be disbanded.

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