Refreshing

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2008)

Taegukgi to me was really refreshing. I'm used to (/tired of?) seeing war films about wars involving western countries, mainly the Vietnam war and WW II and this film made me like war films again, if only for a brief moment (I know western parties are involved in the Korean War as well, but the main characters here are Koreans).
Taegukgi shows the audience a great (Korean) insight in the Korean War and besides this delivers it in a great story as well. The story of two brothers growing apart during wartime may seem a bit typical (and it would have been), but the director really takes his time getting into the story what results in a great compassion created by the viewer. Before seeing the film I knew little about the Korean War and when I visited Korea, my Korean friend insisted I'd watch this one and I'm happy he did.
This film was a big blockbuster in Korea and I can understand why. It is a great film but above all the Koreans are really proud of their national history. Taegukgi does a great job putting a part of that history on screen for the world to see.
Besides this I would like to point out it's very interesting to see JSA and Welcome to Dongmakgol. Those two films (in addition to Taegukgi) give an even better insight in how the (South-) Koreans experience(d) the Korean war and the effect it had and in some way still has on the people of Korea.
I give it 8/10