Ultimately disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (31 August 2005)

After reading the comments and seeing the very high rating this film got, I was truly looking forward to watching it. I like a well done war film - and a well done anti-war film. I can appreciate a movie that delves into the politics and/or strategies of a war but gives short shrift to the characters and their motives ... or vice versa. I also relish films from other cultures, especially Asian, which give me some insight into our differences and similarities.
Here, there are occasional interesting glimpses into the hardships of the young men enslaved by the respective armies. The battle scenes are powerful and well-constructed but they take up too much time since (a) they're repetitive and (b) the focus is supposed to be on the brothers' relationship. The hardships faced by the civilians is only hinted at. The dialogue was, overall, boilerplate (you can imagine such scenes in a run-of-the-mill US Civil War film). What bothered me the most was the ludicrous dialogue and the mystifying actions of the brothers. It's clear what the author/director was driving at in terms of attitudes and motivations, but they're reflected by extreme, unnatural, out-of-character (insofar as character was depicted) behavior when more natural and believable conduct would have yielded the same effect.
I hope another Korean filmmaker undertakes a version of the North/South conflict - and doesn't try to make it a Hollywood soap opera.