Brotherhood [DVD]

One can only hope that-if this fratricidal war is ever resolved-there will finally be an even-handed account of the events.This excellent war film mostly reflects the South Korean narrative:The "Communists" are little more than dehumanized, fanatical stick figures.There's no insight as to their motivation, even while they are depictedfighting to death. Actually these were the people who liberated theircountry from Japanese occupation, whereas some on the "Nationalist" sidehave been Japanese collaborators.It is commendable that the film reveals the war crimes of both sides.By hindsight of the horrors of the "Dear Leader" regime,we are not much surprised by the depicted North Korean atrocities.But it takes courage and integrity to depict the awful war crimes committedby South Korean forces, just five years after the end of Nazi horror,and in a war nominally waged by the United Nations:There are wanton, extra-judicial executions of civilians,and massacres of North Korean prisoners.The love-hate antagonism of the two brothers resonates with the passionsignited in the divided country at large.The younger brother preserves his humanity, and his critical view ofa war fought for the sake of others at the expense of his country.The older brother is swept along, in the fire of hate consuming Korea,and nearly loses his soul, before losing his life.In the eyes of the now old, surviving brother, there are tears ofregret for many a life wasted. But the film ends in a beautiful upbeat note:In the midst of the smoking ruins of a devastated 1953 Seoul,the surviving youngsters talk about going to school.

Korea 1950.Two brothers are press ganged into the army after the North invade the South.The elder is determined to protect the younger but he becomes a fierce fighter and with history and honours beckoning the man becomes beast.Framed a la Saving... by a contemporary beginning and end,Brotherhood is a broad,heartfelt and ferocious piece.Outdoing Ryan with epic combat sequences that are utter carnage the director Kang Je-Gyu(who also scripted) captures the confusion and the insanity of war with startling clarity.Overwhelming at times and not without flaws - a contrivance too many and a final battle that is a little too like greek tragedy,Brotherhood works through it's sheer visceral nature(one scene where a crazed soldier starts shooting his own is hard to watch) and a heartfelt depiction of sibling love(both brothers are first rate).Critcism from other quarters seems harsh to me(enjoying"world cinema" isn't just an exercise in being condescending and intellectually detatched,we all like a bit of the wonderful Alain Resnais and Jean Cocteau but not Scorcese's overblown and ponderous remake of the superb Infernal Affairs)and being manipulated emotionally for something as stirring as this seems a fair trade off to me.Anyway everyone knows that a good war movie is the male tearjerker(apologies to all ladies who enjoy war movies)Highly recommended.

The film starts gently, introducing the characters and laying down the basis for the story (set during the Korean war before the intervention of NATO and China),which makes the battle scenes all the more shocking when they appear. In the combat scenes, images are graphic, shakey, fragmented and chaotic, and provide the viewer with some kind of idea of what war must be like with all the noise, confusion and utter, almost impersonal, carnage. The story is moving, yet tragic, the characters are believable and the acting is pretty convincing throughout. I would have given this five stars, except that I felt that in one or two of the action scenes things went a little too far to be entirely realistic - in one scene of hand to hand trench fighting, the combatants seemed determined to punch each other to death, despite being loaded down with modern weapons. However, this is being picky. If you like a good war film with (I imagine) plenty of realism, then you'll enjoy this one. The subtitles don't detract either.

I am cold as stone when it comes to gushing at movies but this one gets me every time!Its one of my all time favorite war movies. I like the way it shows the war and the unfairness from the citizens side of things and how its gritty because its Korean against Korean. It also spares no expence when it comes to how hard it was to just survive, and also survive the terror of both sides of a government manipulating its people. The way its filmed you can see why the characters act the way they do, especially towards the end. It has none of the pompous 'We are the best, as a nation we won the war with barely an inconvenience, queue the French Horns' that I cant bloody stand!!!Its extremely hard to find a copy in the UK and only know of it because Film 4 had it on many years ago.