Brief Story Line
Story was set in the year 1909 during the time when Korea was part of the Japanese empire and focused on the Korean resistance fighters. One of their leaders was Ahn Jung-geun (Hyun Bin - Rampant, Crash Landing on You TV series etc) who had pledged and made plans to assassinate the Prime Minister of Japan, Ito Hirobumi (Lily Franky - Tokyo Swindlers TV series, Call Me Chihiro etc) in Harbin where he was scheduled to meet with Minister of Russia.
Ahn was supported by his trusted comrades Woo Deok-sun (Park Jeong-min - Uprising, Entourage TV series etc) and Kim Sang-hyun (Jo Woo-jin - Alienoid: Return to the Future, Happiness TV series etc) during his mission. Although one of the resistance group leaders Lee Chang-seop (Lee Dong-wook - A Shop for Killers TV series, Single in Seoul etc) was suspicious due to precious incident that left a lot of the fighters dead, he still gave his full support to Ahn. While going to the destination, they also got the help from the widow of former fighter named Mrs. Gong (Jeon Yeo-been - Secret Zoo, Vincenzo TV series etc). The mission itself was not so straight forward with many challenges along the way and also being chased by Japanese armies led by Tatsuo Mori (Park Hoon - The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, Big Mouth TV series etc).
So what would happen to Ahn's mission? And how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
When I read the brief synopsis from cinema websites, I was under the impression that this movie would have plenty of action and suspenseful since it was set during such period and focused on assassination plot. The early part was actually quite intense and the brutality of the war were graphically shown. However, after those scenes, the film moved on much slower pace as the story focused on preparation of the mission and having lots of dialogues. Now I am not against people conversing in a film, unfortunately the movie setting was mostly done in the dark and very difficult to know who were talking, especially when some of them looked similar due to their appearances (thick beard, long hair, dark brown clothing and so on). I am not sure if it's intentional by the movie maker to make it so dark or it's because of the screen quality.
Anyway, after some long plotting moments which sadly made me a bit bored with only one brief fight scene in the middle, the story finally sparked to life after we reached more than half. Its intensity was increased when the stakes were higher and the danger became imminent with the existence of someone jeopardizing the mission. And towards the end, the suspense was more felt with a quite satisfying conclusion. Such ending should not be surprising considering the outcome already occurred. For those who are unaware, this movie was based on actual character of Ahn Jung-geun whose story had been told in other movies & series in the past. However, I do not think this is a biography of him cause the main plot was on the assassination mission in Harbin with some dramatization rather than focusing on his life.
I did feel this to be a movie that was aimed at raising patriotic sense towards Korean people. And it seemed to be quite successful as it performed well during its first week of release in South Korea which meant lots of people went to see it in theaters. In addition, it was also well received by critics and had its world premiere in Toronto International Film Festival (which would explain the logo of TIFF on the poster). The director & screenwriter Woo Min-ho was nominated and won several awards in the past for his works in Inside Man and The Man Standing Next. The cast in general did their best in portraying the characters. I personally liked the performance of Joo Woo-jin as Kim. The only other names mentioned as part of the main cast was Yoo Jae-myung (Uncle Samsik TV series, Kingmaker etc) as Mr. Choi.
Movie's duration was 108 minutes which my wife jokingly said felt more like 3 hours. Before the film ended, I would have thought there would be some references to Ahn but there was none. We also waited throughout the closing credits which did not have any mid/post scene, but we did find out that the film was shot in Latvia. Before I forgot, I had to applaud the cinematographer cause the early 20th century setting looked realistic with those old fashioned train and buildings. Sound effect was pretty standard, though I was surprised to see it had Dolby Atmos system (most likely only applicable in South Korea).
Overall this film was a critics pleaser and well liked by the South Korean audience. I have no doubt about the quality of the movie but on personal basis, I found it to be too slow paced, especially in the fist half which made me sleepy and even a person near my wife snored more than once. The dark surrounding & settings also decrease the pleasure of seeing it even on the large screen of the studio. There were occasional intensity here and there and one interesting enough action scene, plus few dramatic moments which at least make it more enjoyable. My wife though did enjoy the film due to its story and performance of the cast. So if you are interested in a movie based on historical event albeit a dramatization or you like the main cast, then you definitely would like this one. But if you are coming to see this hoping for an intense action film, then you won't find it here. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment