Speak to me, Brother. [Spoilers.]

Rating: Null/10 (2 October 2004)

There are a few things you, the reader, should know about me before reading on: 1. I am Korean and proud of it. 2. I don't know a lot of Korean history. 3. I am very emotional and sensitive. 4. I don't like war movies.
Okay, now that's out of the way, let's get started shall we? "Taegukgi" is a Korean war/drama about two brothers who are forced to join the Korean army after the North Koreans attack the border and try to invade South Korea. Over the course of the war, the two brothers find themselves drifting farther and farther apart as the older one quickly moves up in rank in the army. It starts in the present when archeologists find the skeleton of the older brother and they call the younger brother about the discovery of his brother's body.
While the fighting style, the guns, the explosions, the missing limbs and the overall bloodiness of it reminded me so much of "Saving Private Ryan", "Taegukgi" concentrates on the characters more than the actual war. In the beginning, both of the brothers are happy-go-lucky guys living a normal life in rural Korea. As the war progresses, we can see the psychological change as the older brother becomes more focused on gaining more for himself from the war rather than hoping it would end. I cried several times during the movie, especially at the end (yes, I know I'm a complete sap.).
"Taegukgi" isn't meant to be taken as a war movie that only focuses on the war itself. It's much like "Pearl Harbor". It's the story of two brothers and the war is just the current that pulls us along with them on their journey throughout the three years of the Korean War.
At the end, when we are brought back to the present, the younger brother's anguish and grief is expressed in one small speech he delivers (I cried when he said this, too): "I waited 53 years, brother. I shouldn't have left you there. Say something. Speak to me, brother."