MOVIE: Silmido 실미도

Another entry,another movie. I know most of you might have noticed by know the recurring theme in the movies that I am posting. It's something shrouded with despair, filled with unchecked human emotions and tinted with violence. If you are waiting for movie recommendations that are overwhelmingly sweet and makes you go "Awww" at every scene, then I am not the admin that you should stalk.haha

I'm a little nuts and would pick a gruesome murder ensemble over a cloying love scene anytime. I am notorious for watching extremely bloody,violent and gut-wrenching films of all times.(I sure wish I could watch all of those.) Better stop before I scare all you dear readers away.haha

Although my movie recommendations may not be the cup of tea for some, all I can guarantee is that these movies are top of the line. From actor awards to blockbuster records, these movies have it all. And today's entrant is none other than another blockbuster war film called Silmido.


Silmido is a 2003 South Korean movie directed by Kang Woo-Suk and is loosely based on a military uprising that happened in the island of Silmido in the 1970's.

On January 31,1968, 31 commandos from North Korean Special Unit 124 entered the South in a failed assassination attempt to kill president Park Chung-hee. In retaliation, South Korea formed its own unit comprising of 31 individuals who where outcasts or deathrow convicts and trained them off on the island of Silmido. Their mission: To kill North Korea's Kim Il-Sung. In the event of a successful assassination, all of them are given their freedom and a new chance at life. With that goal, each one of them went through grueling,inhumane treatment to emerge as the best lean,mean killing machines.

But as they were finally dispatched towards the North, a mysterious order from the officials above recalled them before they have realized their mission. The men came back,disillusioned. Because of this, two of their members went AWOL and went to a nearby village and raped a female doctor. But they were discovered by their superiors and when they were surrounded by the military, they opted to commit suicide. One of them died on the spot but the other was alive, but wounded. He was brought back to camp and strung-up as an example to others while the remaining members of the elite team were beaten. One member snapped and ran towards the strung-up man and killed him.

When the order was canceled, the team no longer has a mission and was therefore useless. The goal that made them endure the terrible struggles will no longer be realized. And with that,it could only mean two things - no freedom and no new life awaits them.

Reunification talks were in progress between North and South Korea. To prevent the top-secret mission being leaked to the outside world, politicians ordered the General(Ahn Sung-Ki) to eliminate those men within a week or he and his fellow officers would perish alongside those convicts. Torn between his duty and his personal honor, he decided to leak the information. After hearing the information about their annihilation, the members of the unit 684 planned to retaliate. And all hell broke loose.


Authors note:

I decided to leave out the ending for you to find out and appreciate. The last few sequences of the movie are 1. bloody, 2. quite emotional and 3. utterly brave. You will come to appreciate the 360 degree emotional twist that a former superior of the unit underwent towards the ending. And the paper bag of goodies focused for a few seconds was enough to make me teary-eyed(just watch the movie to understand why I'm breaking down for such a small reason). For all its gruesomeness, I would say Silmido managed to bring out all the right emotions that even a hardcore war veteran would definitely be able to empathize.

MOVIE: Old Boy 올드보이

"Even though I am no more than a monster - don't I have the right to live too?"
-Oh Dae-Su

Old Boy(올드보이) is a movie of relentless action that would keep you gripping the edge of your seats till your knuckles turned white and then bam!the ending would leave you speechless and in awe.

Basically that is what I felt after going through the film one gloomy Saturday night. I have read various reviews on this film and all were praises. So, I decided to check this one out. Considering it bagged the Grand Prix award during the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and has received such high praise from then President of the Jury, director Quentin Tarantino(Kill Bill,Death Proof/Grindhouse) and also has been nominated for the highest award Palme d'Or(just lost to Fahrenheit 9/11), I sincerely think this movie is qualified for my time.

So, let's start the film rolling shall we? The film starts off with a rather overweight Oh Dae-Su,drunk and running amok in the police station. He was bailed out by his friend Joo-hwan. It was Dae-Su's daughter's birthday that day. He talks to her on the phone and promised her that he would be back to give her the angel wings he promised. After Joo-hwan took his turn to talk to the daughter on the phone and turned to look at Dae-Su, Dae-Su was suddenly nowhere to be seen.

The next scenes show an imprisoned Dae-Su. With no communication to the outside world and only being fed fried dumplings being pushed on a small rectangular hole in the bottom of the door, he was already in utter disbelief and confused as to why he is there.

"If they had told me it was going to be fifteen years, would it have been easier to endure? "
-Oh Dae-Su

TV became his friend, his lover and companion. Years ticked slowly. One year,2 years,3 years...All events-tragic and jubilant-left Dae-Su behind. Still in the dark four walls that surround him. There were times when he wanted to commit suicide, always on the verge of hallucination and madness, but he would be gassed unconscious. He found out - still through the ever-present television- that his wife was murdered, his daughter sent to foster parents and he was the murder suspect. He had to get out was the only thing that kept ringing in his ears and he began to plan for his escape. He tattooed himself by etching lines using a bed spring - a line each year that passed. As his chopsticks grew short, the bigger the hole he made on the wall in his room.11,12,13...and finally 15 years. And he was released.Suddenly.

He wanted revenge. And wanted answer to that question that haunted him all those years - "Who imprisoned me?". As Dae-Su searches for the answer, he met a young chef of Japanese cuisine called Mido. After he fainted in the restaurant, Mido took him in and helped him. A voice on the phone told him he only had 5 days to find the person responsible for his imprisonment or Mido will die. Little by little, Dae-Su was able to find out the accomplices to his imprisonment and cold-bloodedly extracted revenge - one after another.

To cut the narrative short, he was successful in finding the man responsible. But here comes the sudden twist in the story. The important question was never "Who?". He was asking himself the wrong question all those time. The question was supposed to be "Why?".The secret to knowing the right answer lies in formulating the right question. And bam! Dae-Su is staggered when he found out the answer to "Why?". So much so that he momentarily darts from violence to raw cowering kinda fear to madness and back again.

I would not spill out spoilers this time. I want you to find out and experience the raw,unchecked emotions that palpitates from the screen. Choi Min-Sik absolutely deserves a standing ovation. Going through everthing he has gone through and being shoved in the face with the truth that stabbed you more painfully than a knife, how would you go through your life?

Revenge is good for your health, but pain will find you again.
-Oh Dae-Su

Credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy for the image

MOVIE: A Frozen Flower 쌍화점

Just recently, a friend of mine(read: innocent) suggested this film for me to watch during leisure. I'm not really a picky person when it comes to movies - as long as it's something worth watching then the genre is not a problem. As usual, it was hard getting him to answer some of my basic questions before I start hunting down torrent for the movie. If you don't have initiative, you would find yourself frustrated with his answers in a span of nanoseconds, and if you prolong it a bit, I bet your hands would start to search for a knife.LOL

So, it was decided. It seems like an interesting enough kinda movie considering he gave me a teaser of steamy scenes by Jo In Sung(Memories of Bali). I was like, wtf. For real?? Jo In Sung may not be the cutest guy there is in Korean cinema but boy, he sure has the bod to go along his wonderful acting skills. To top it off, Joo Jin Mo(200 Pounds Beauty) have had the pleasure to sample his *cough* bod for himself.

Those two names were all it took for me to go gallivanting all over the net to search for the video and the subs as well. I was itching literally to see for myself the film that cause such buzz in Korea late last year and even earned Joo Jin Mo a Baeksang award for Best Actor.

Hmm, I'm a little apprehensive if I should continue writing off this post cause I was thinking this movie definitely isn't on the PG regions anymore..haha I might get banned or something or put on indefinite suspension.LOL

Anyways, I just finished watching the second CD today. I was barely able to finish CD1 because of a LOT of steamy, eye-popping and "any-minute-now-I'm-gonna-faint" scenes. Butts are everywhere on the screen..haha And boy was it graphic. No inhibitions. What you see is more than what you have hoped to see.

But don't be put off by my lousy description of the movie above. It is a little too visual but take everything off(no pun intended,promise :D), and you'll see something more to this film than the steamy scenes and the countless liaison with Jo In Sung and the Queen Song Ji Hyo(Jumong).

The premise of the movie may come as a shock to conservatives in our society today but frankly, we need more movies like this. I mean not the visual shocking treats of the film but films that have depth and like I said no inhibitions - far from the boring,same old stuff we see on mainstream cinema.

The lead actors had to be commended on their acting. For sure, it was awkward lip-locking with another guy and doing whatelseyoucallit kinda moves on him BUT they sure nailed it. Joo Jin Mo was terrific in his acting. Personally, I prefer Joo Jin Mo over Jo In Sung. It's not that In Sung is not a good actor but I felt that the transformation that Joo Jin Mo exhibited from the start to finish was dazzling. When heads started to roll, you knew he was totally out of control. But the one thing he only wanted was to bring back Jo In Sung back to him. It was sad really. *Spoiler Alert: During the end when he asking if he was loved even once and Jo In Sung said NO. How heartbreaking is that??huhuhu Well, before I spoil everything and narrate the whole stuff, I better stop.LOL

Lastly, I congratulate everyone who has made this film including the director Yoo Ha. Truly fabulous. A buzz-worthy film in my opinion. Not all of you may agree but like they say, to each his own. This movie captured my attention and deserve all the buzz - be it good or bad - it's getting.


Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Frozen_Flower for the poster

MOVIE: Taegukgi 태극기 휘날리며

Due to the busy schedule that I have these past few months, I have neglected my hobby of spamming this blog with DBSK or Changmin posts.hehe I have already resorted to listing down the things that I need to contribute for the survival of my anything asian addiction.

So, before the Busy buzzer finally rings, let me post something out of Korea's movie industry. I have watched this film just last Friday when everyone of my officemates have punched out for the day. :D



Taegukgi (태극기 휘날리며)

In the beginning of 2004 the South Korean film industry was shaken twice within 2 months. First, “Silmido” broke every imaginable record and pulled 11 million people into the theaters when it opened in December 2003, making it the most watched film ever in Korea. Then in February 2004, “Taegukgi” surpassed that record, by moving almost 12 million tickets. That means a third of the population saw these films. But “Silmido” and “Taegukgi” share more than impressive boxoffice numbers. Both films deal with the relations to North Korea, and both films are - in one way or another - about war.


Story

The story opened with a scene in an excavation site. Archaeologists are dusting a piece of old skull beside a bullet riddled soldier's helmet. A memorial site is being constructed for those who have fought during the Korean war. Lee Jin-seok receives a phone call from the army telling him that they have uncovered a skeleton whom they believe are his remains. Because of this, Lee Jin-seok readily went to the excavation believing the remains found were those of his older brother.

Flashback to Seoul 1950.

We are presented a much younger Lee Jin-seok, then a student, and his older brother Lee Jin-tae. The relationship between the two brothers was really something to be envied. It was really evident how much the older brother loves Jin-seok, even buying him an expensive pen he could use when he goes to university. The family was not rich. The older brother barely had any education and the mother just had a small noodle shop in their place. But both mother and Jin-tae broke their backs working just to earn money to send Jin-seok to university. But despite the hardships, you can see how contented they were with their life. They have clothes on their backs, food on their table and a loving family. Both the brothers live with their mother, their other younger siblings and Jin-tae's fiancee Young-shin. Young-shin was the one helping their mother in the noodle shop while Jin-tae is off shining shoes at the streets.

The tranquility of their life was shattered when war broke out between Communist country North Korea and South Korea. The family was forced to evacuate since their place is on the verge of the border. As they were fleeing from their home, men from the army arrived and ordered males aged 18-30 to take up arms and serve the country. Jin-seok was forcefully taken away despite his mother's pleading. When Ji-tae arrived from an errand and found out that his brother was taken away, he immediately began to look for him in the train carriages containing the new recruits. He began to reason out with the officers that his brother is not allowed to take part in the military since he is still a student. But his calm pleading fell on deaf ears until Jin-tae started throwing punches in an attempt of allowing his brother to escape. But in the end both of them were recruited in the army. As the train is leaving, the brothers saw their mother frantically waving at them. Jin-tae shouted an assurance to his mother that he would take care of his brother.


Director Kang Je-gyu has presented a no-holds-barred battle scenes between the North and South Koreans. Being a fan of ultimate gore and epic war scenes, I think that Kang Je-gyu delivered to fans of war films everything we ever craved for in a battle scene. The ever changing atmosphere pulls you ever closer to the film,creating variety and not just battle in a mud-strewn environment like most war filmst.Aside from that, the desolation that one can feel during the war times is intensified with every enemy encounter. Bullets, cannon balls fly everywhere. Bodies smoked from rapid bursts from enemy machine guns. Body parts get dismembered from land mines. Everything was true to life. The shootings looked freakin real that you wonder if those people really are not dead after that shoot. The camera shake employed makes viewing a little difficult for those who are not used to screens in constant motion but to people like I am, the shaking only intensifies the chaos you see on the screen.

Jin-tae was always on the lookout for his brother. He even pleaded to a platoon leader that they be allowed to stay together since his brother is too young to be experiencing the horrors of the war alone. We can see as the scenes unfolded, how devoted a brother Jin-tae is. Also we see how much Jin-seok adores his older brother. But those feelings were practically the reason why the brothers would be butting their heads in the later part of the film.

Meanwhile, as the war progresses, Jin-tae is ever worried of his brother. Because of that he struck a deal with his commander that if he would get a Medal of Honor, his brother Jin-seok would be discharged from the army and sent home. Because of this, Jin-tae would volunteer for every suicidal mission - the more dangerous, the better - just to secure the medal that would free his younger brother. But Jin-tae was oblivious of this sacrifice and after several scenes, something in him finally snapped and he loathed his brother so much. The concern he once felt towards his brother on every suicidal motion he partakes was now changed to one of rage as he thinks that his brother is only doing those missions to gain recognition.


Will the brothers be able to salvage the relationship they once had before? Or would it crumble and lay in ruins like their country? You have to watch the film to appreciate what a good story this is. Though i must admit that the ending was not what I had expected at all. Still, a must-watch.



Yehey,at last I finished this entry.hehe Just see the discrepancy between the draft date(posted date) and the actual date it was published which is...March 16, 2009.


Credits: shuqi.org