[Movie Reviews] `Silmido' Raises More Questions Than Answers
Published on | Source
By Joon Soh
The new domestic film "Silmido" mines a reliable source for high-powered domestic dramas in recent years _ how Cold-War politics turned individual lives into tragedies. But unlike the blockbusters "Shiri" and "JSA - Joint Security Area", "Silmido" uses a real-life situation from the late 1960s, albeit one that the South Korean government would like to forget.
After a group of North Korean soldiers infiltrated Seoul and came very close to assassinating then-President Park Chung-hee, the South Korean government decided to do the same.
The title of the film comes from the remote island of Silmido, where most of story takes place. There, the government gathers a collection of criminals and outcasts, many off of death-row, and begins a secret project to train them and send them to assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.
The majority of the film, which stars Ahn Sung-ki and Sul Kyung-gu and took over 10 billion won to make, is spent on showing the incredibly grueling military training that took place for two years on the island. The criminals are beaten regularly and subjugated to torture as part of their training, but with hopes of riches and a new lease on life if they succeed in their mission, this band of misfit brothers take what their instructors dish out and ask for more.
The testosterone level in these scenes, and throughout the whole movie, is high, with only the antics of the class-clown trainee, played by Im Won-hee, providing any comic relief. Director Kang Woo-suk perfectly captures the grittiness of this extreme version of the South Korean military, where friendships form despite the circumstances.
However, the male bonding that drives "Silmido" is in a sense its weakest element, as the film teeters between criticizing the military mentality and wallowing in it. The film never satisfyingly resolves the contradiction, relying on broad, adrenalin-charged action scenes for the latter part of the film.
The Silmido project met a grim end when the South Korean government decided to scrap it and eliminate all traces of its existence. Given the lack of historical records, the film doesn't try to answer all the questions, but still does an apt job of bringing that tragic chapter of South Korean history to life.
"Silmido" opened Wednesday in theaters nationwide. The film will be screening with English subtitles on weekends and during the New Year holidays at Cine Core Theater in downtown Seoul. For more information about the screenings, go to www.seoulselection.com.
The new domestic film "Silmido" mines a reliable source for high-powered domestic dramas in recent years _ how Cold-War politics turned individual lives into tragedies. But unlike the blockbusters "Shiri" and "JSA - Joint Security Area", "Silmido" uses a real-life situation from the late 1960s, albeit one that the South Korean government would like to forget.
After a group of North Korean soldiers infiltrated Seoul and came very close to assassinating then-President Park Chung-hee, the South Korean government decided to do the same.
The title of the film comes from the remote island of Silmido, where most of story takes place. There, the government gathers a collection of criminals and outcasts, many off of death-row, and begins a secret project to train them and send them to assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.
The majority of the film, which stars Ahn Sung-ki and Sul Kyung-gu and took over 10 billion won to make, is spent on showing the incredibly grueling military training that took place for two years on the island. The criminals are beaten regularly and subjugated to torture as part of their training, but with hopes of riches and a new lease on life if they succeed in their mission, this band of misfit brothers take what their instructors dish out and ask for more.
The testosterone level in these scenes, and throughout the whole movie, is high, with only the antics of the class-clown trainee, played by Im Won-hee, providing any comic relief. Director Kang Woo-suk perfectly captures the grittiness of this extreme version of the South Korean military, where friendships form despite the circumstances.
However, the male bonding that drives "Silmido" is in a sense its weakest element, as the film teeters between criticizing the military mentality and wallowing in it. The film never satisfyingly resolves the contradiction, relying on broad, adrenalin-charged action scenes for the latter part of the film.
The Silmido project met a grim end when the South Korean government decided to scrap it and eliminate all traces of its existence. Given the lack of historical records, the film doesn't try to answer all the questions, but still does an apt job of bringing that tragic chapter of South Korean history to life.
"Silmido" opened Wednesday in theaters nationwide. The film will be screening with English subtitles on weekends and during the New Year holidays at Cine Core Theater in downtown Seoul. For more information about the screenings, go to www.seoulselection.com.
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