Taegukgi (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Taegukgi
Theatrical poster
Hangul	태극기 휘날리며
Hanja	太極旗 휘날리며
RR	Taegeukgi Hwinallimyeo
MR	T'aegŭkki Hwinallimyŏ
Directed by	Kang Je-gyu
Produced by	Lee Seong-hun
Written by	Kang Je-gyu
Starring	Jang Dong-gun Won Bin
Music by	Lee Dong-jun
Cinematography	Park Gok-ji Jeong Jin-hee
Editing by	Kyeong-hie Choi
Distributed by	Showbox
Release date(s)	6 February 2004
Running time	148 min.
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Budget	US$12,800,000[citation needed]
Gross revenue	$69,827,583 [1]

Taegukgi Hwinallimyo (Hangul: 태극기 휘날리며) is a 2004 South Korean war film directed by Kang Je-gyu. It tells the story about the effect of the Korean War on two brothers. The film's title is the name of the pre-war Flag of Korea as well as the postwar Flag of South Korea. It was released in the United Kingdom as Brotherhood: Taegukgi and the United States as Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War.

Kang Je-gyu made a name for himself directing Shiri and was able to attract top talent and capital to his new project, eventually spending US $12.8 million on production. The film became one of the biggest successes in Korean film history up to that time, attracting 11.74 million people to the theatre, beating the previous record holder Silmido.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Reception 3 Soundtrack 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

The plot summary in this article is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the content. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (June 2009)

While digging up remains at a Korean War battlefield to set up a memorial site, the South Korean Army excavation team notifies an elderly man that they identified some remains as his own. He believes that they may be those of his brother and drives over to the site with his granddaughter.

The story then shifts to Seoul in June 1950, where the Lee family lives. Jin-tae Lee (Jang Dong-gun) owns a shoeshine stand to pay for his younger brother Jin-seok's (Won Bin) education with the help of a boy named Yong-seok who Jin-seok teaches. Jin-tae's fiancée Young-shin (Lee Eun-ju) works with the Lee's noodle shop. On June 25, North Korea invades the country, and chaos erupts across the nation. Jin-seok is conscripted into the army and, and when his brother tries to get him off the train, he is conscripted as well. The two brothers are sent to a battlefield. They survive their first artillery strike though Jin-seok nearly dies of a heart attack in shock. Jin-tae is told by his commanding officer that if he can earn the highest award for a South Korean soldier which is the Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit, his brother can be sent home. Jin-tae willingly volunteers for many dangerously suicidal missions. He is promoted to the rank of Chungsa (Sergeant), but during a concert for South Korean troops, Jin Seouk talks with Jin-tae, expressing concern that his brother is risking his life for the glory of being appreciated and having attention. Soon American led U.N. forces invade South Korea from Incheon in assisting and the pushing out of North Korean forces out of the country and all the way up to China. The battle of Pyongyang soon follows, and many die on both sides. During the battle, Jin-tae captures an important North Korean captain and is finally awarded with the medal, but at the cost of the life of a close friend named Yong-man, frustrating Jin-seok.

The South Koreans' hopes of the war ending soon are shattered as China enters the war on the communist side, invading North Korea en masse and pushing South Korean and U.N. forces in a desperate retreat south. The unit sees the aftermath of a few massacres, and in turn massacres some North Korean units. Jin-seouk, witnesses the carnage and is sickened. Yong-seouk speaks with Jin-seouk, telling him about events at home, and tells him how the family is doing now that they are living under the communists. Jin-tae murders Yong-seok when some prisoners make a stand with a hostage-the prisoners had been forced to fight for the entertainment of South Korean troops, and whoever lost starved. Jin-tae beats Yong-seouk to death. On their way home Jin-tae gets his medal and Young-shin is captured and taken by the anti-Communists Federation before Jin-seok's eyes when it is later discovered she signed up for the Communist Workers' Party of Korea to get food for the family while saying that the South Korean government gave them nothing in the country's time of need. After Jin-seok escapes from a guard and Jin-tae tries to hold the anti-Communists back from killing Young-shin, who is furthermore accused of being a whore to the North, saying that "she was with every North Korean officer", a chaotic attempt by prisoners is made to escape. During the struggle, Young-shin is shot and killed by an anti-Communist, and the brothers are arrested for trying to rescue her. Jin-seok cries out as Young-shin's body thrown into the trench along with the other previously executed prisoners. In the jail, Jin-seok quietly mocks Jin-tae for Young-shin's death. Jin-tae is later brought in for questioning by a security commander. His request to release his brother is refused, and a Chinese artillery strike takes place. The security commander then orders the prison to be set on fire where Jin-seok is being held. Trying to rescue his brother, Jin-tae loses his consciousness in the artillery strike and wakes up to mistakenly believe his brother died in the fire. He brutally kills the security commander by bludgeoning him to death just before he is restrained by Chinese soldiers.

In truth, Jin-seok had been transferred to a military hospital. He barely escaped the burning cell with his life, and was saved by a soldier nicknamed Uncle Yang, a friend and squadmate. Despite this assistance, however, Jin-seok was shot in the escape. Uncle Yang also brings a letter that Jin-tae wrote, and says that Jin-tae was never found but he doubts Jin-tae deserted. When Uncle Yang hands Jin-seok the letter, Jin-seok is apathetic towards both the letter and his brother's uncertain fate. However, the next day, he learns from two South Korean military officers that his brother had defected to the North Koreans-a massive propaganda victory for the North Koreans. Afterwards, he Jin-tae's letter to their mother and is brought to tears. He immediately rejoins the army to fight at the 38th parallel, but is denied permission to fight and is assigned as a broadcaster, to speak into a radio to demoralize North Korean soldiers, but he beats the guards and runs over towards enemy lines, Surrendering to them and claiming that he is the brother of the "leader of flag unit". After being nearly killed by the North Koreans for being suspected as a spy, they send him with an escort to validate his claim, but a battle breaks out. U.S. fighter planes dive down from the sky and cause severe damage to the defenses in which many North Koreans soldiers are killed with an additional South Korean artillery bombardment. The South Korean troops charge towards the lines to engage the enemy. Jin-seok fights his way through the fierce hand to hand combat before the feared North Korean Infantry Unit known as "Flag Unit", commanded by Jin-tae, arrives to reinforce the North Korean lines. The fighting brutally escalates to South Koreans getting killed in large numbers, and eventually forcing a desperate South Korean retreat.

After killing a few South Korean soldiers and not recognizing his own brother, Jin-tae tries to kill Jin-seok in anger. The two fight while Jin-seok begs his brother to recognize him. When Jin-tae is about to shoot him, he is wounded by a bayonet strike. Jin-seok tries to carry him off the battlefield, but is wounded himself as well. Jin-tae finally recognizes his brother after Jin-seok reminds him of their mother, his dead fiancee Young-shin and the taking care of her grave as well as his dream to see his younger brother go to college. Jin-seok askes him to come with him but Jin-tae convinces him to leave, promising that he will meet him back at home. Jin-tae presents a silver pen, promising to give it to Jin-seouk as well as finish the shoes he made for Jin when they meet again. The wounded Jin-seok begins running across the battlefield as bullets fly across him and explosions erupt around him while retreating along with so many other South Korean soldiers. Jin-tae turns to an abandoned machine gun and begins to gun down North Korean infantry to cover his fleeing brother. The North Koreans finally manage to hit Jin-tae in a barrage of bullets. Jin-tae gives one last look at his brother before dying on the battlefield.

The film returns to the modern day, and the now aged Jin-seok is shown at the dig site begging his brother's remains to speak to him, citing the promises that the two made for after the war. Among the objects found with him were the silver pen that Jin-tae had promised to give him. His granddaughter looks on with empathy, realizing how much her grandfather had lost during the conflict. The film then returns to the past, ending in the aftermath of the Korean War, where Jin-seok returns to his mother, and sees the shoes his brother actually finished, and then heads off with the family's younger children in a peaceful Seoul. He reassures them that he will return to school, thereby fulfilling the promise he made to Jin-tae.

[edit] Reception

At the 50th Asia Pacific Film Festival, Taegukgi won the "Best Film", while Kang Je-gyu was awarded the "Best Director".^[2] It was one of four Korean movies screened at the 2006 International Fajr Film Festival in Iran. At the 2004 Grand Bell Awards, the main awards for film in South Korea, Taegukgi won three technical awards, for art direction, cinematography and sound effects.

According to the numbers at Box Office Mojo, Taegukgi earned $1.1 million in the United States playing in limited release. It earned a further $68.7 million worldwide to finish as the 75th highest grossing film in the world in 2004. In addition to its record-breaking reception in South Korea, the film has also achieved positive responses abroad. It currently holds a fresh rating of 80 percent at Rotten Tomatoes. Most positive reviews cite its unflinching portrayal of war and praise it for showing the brutality of both the North and South Korean armies.

[edit] Soundtrack

	Prologue (main theme)
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

The music was composed by Dong-jun Lee, and released on February 23, 2004 as a single CD, produced by Yejeon Media in Korea and Avex Trax in Japan.^[3][4] It has 25 tracks,^[5] with seven bonus tracks, including a solo piano and chamber ensemble arrangement of the main theme.^[6] The "haunting" main theme's lyricism,^[7] present throughout several of the tracks, was compared favorably to music of film score composers Ennio Morricone and John Williams.^[6] Although it was received generally positively,^[6] one critic argued that the film was tragic enough, and needed "a more subtle soundtrack."^[8]

[edit] See also

• Cinema of Korea
• Contemporary culture of South Korea
• List of films set in or about North Korea
• Taegeuk
• Korean War

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

[edit] External links

• Taegukgi at the Internet Movie Database
• Taegukgi (film) at Box Office Mojo
• Taegukgi at Rotten Tomatoes
• Review at koreanfilm.org
• Sony Homepage

Preceded by Silmido (film)

Top box office of Korea 2004-2005

Succeeded by The King and the Clown

v • d • e Cinema of Korea Cinema of South Korea · Cinema of North Korea Actors · Animators · Directors · Cinematographers · Editors · Producers · Screenwriters · Korean animation · Animation studios · Awards · Festivals · K-Horror · Production companies · A-Z Korean language films · A–Z pre–1948 Korean films · Pre–1948 Korean films by year · A–Z North Korean films · North Korean films by year · A–Z South Korean films   South Korean films by year 1948–1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009