Brutal, visceral, intense and a little melodramatic

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2007)

Known as Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War in the United States, this is a film about the Korean War. Actually, it's really about the relationship between two brothers in the Korean War and how war changes them.
This was a brutal movie, as the D-day scene in Saving Private Ryan is brutal. There is a lot of realistic violence, however, there was also a whole lot of shaky camera as well, which made it hard to appreciate everything that went into each scene. If the cinematography were more steady,?like Saving Private Ryan or even A Very Long Engagement, I think the artistry of the film would've been more appreciable.
Actually, part of the film's structure is very similar to Saving Private Ryan in that it has a prologue and epilogue set in the present (sort of). But it's really a single-minded story about brothers, although there are a lot of nice?complications folded into the story and commentary about the divide between the communist North and the capitalist South. There are multiple very Korean moments of strong melodrama as well (which is predictable and not unlike a few Mel Gibson epic films as well). But I think the story went a little too long and was a little too single-minded to be great.
Nevertheless, it's a visceral and intense film and recommended for those that can stomach the brutal violence. 8/10.