I'd be the first to admit that I haven't been up on foreign films as much as I probably should. One of my favorite films from last year (Let the Right One In) was made in Sweden. Today I had the opportunity to sample South Korean cinema in the form of Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War. I have never seen a war film that didn't deal with Amerian centered conflicts. Letters from Iwo Jima, while impressive, was still a primarily American film. Tae Guk Gi, on the other hand, is a product of Korea in which the American involvement is only mentioned in passing.
The story is of two brothers living in South Korea who are drafted into service following the outbreak of hostilities that would last for three years and serve as a proxy war during the Cold War. The view from the trenches ain't pretty, but that's what makes this film important. Not unlike Saving Private Ryan, this film places a more human face on soldiers in the war. They aren't the brave war heroes marching off to victory. They're sons, brothers, fathers, and people with real motivations and problems. Throughout the story we are presented with gritty examples of the horrors the Korean War had to offer.
What impressed me most about this film was its production value. On only a twelve million dollar budget, these filmmakers managed to create something on par with the greatest American war films. The Korean War was an ordeal that members of my generation have only seen from black and white file footage. In Tae Guk Gi, as it should be, it is treated as one of the most major conflicts their nation faced. Non native audience members can experience it as if it were "their" war and it adds that much impact to it.
Emotionally moving, you are hard pressed not to feel affected by Tae Guk Gi by the time the credits roll. It illustrates a conflict I don't think Americans have been made aware enough of. Unfortunately, it has been dismissed by mainstream audiences, likely because it comes with subtitles. I have no doubts in my mind that if it was an American war film, people would be talking about it like they did for Saving Private Ryan.