Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
"Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo" (original title)

A drama about the fate of brothers forced to fight in the Korean War.

Director:

Je-kyu Kang

Writers:

Ji-hoon Han, Je-kyu Kang,

Stars:

Dong-gun Jang, Bin Won, Eun-ju Lee

9 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Dong-gun Jang	...	Jin-tae Lee
Bin Won	...	Jin-seok Lee
Eun-ju Lee	...	Young-shin Kim
Hyeong-jin Kong	...	Yong-man
Yeong-ran Lee	...	Mother Lee
Kil-Kang Ahn	...	Sergeant Huh
Jin Jung	...	Sergeant Lim
Jae-hyeong Jeon	...	Yong-seok
Min-ho Jang	...	Old Jin-seok Lee
Yun-hie Jo	...	Jin-seok Lee's grandaughter
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Min-sik Choi	...	North Korean Captain
Do-Hee Go	...	Young-Guk Kim
Taek-ha Hwang	...	Platoon Soldier #2
Dae-Hoon Jeong
Doo-hong Jung

Storyline

In 1950, in South Korea, shoe-shiner Jin-tae Lee and his 18-year-old old student brother, Jin-seok Lee, form a poor but happy family with their mother, Jin-tae's fiancé Young-shin Kim, and her young sisters. Jin-tae and his mother are tough workers, who sacrifice themselves to send Jin-seok to the university. When North Korea invades the South, the family escapes to a relative's house in the country, but along their journey, Jin-seok is forced to join the army to fight in the front, and Jin-tae enlists too to protect his young brother. The commander promises Jin-tae that if he gets a medal he would release his brother, and Jin-tae becomes the braver soldier in the company. Along the bloody war between brothers, the relationship of Jin-seok with his older brother deteriorates leading to a dramatic and tragic end.

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Plot Keywords:

korean war | 1950s | korea | medal | soldier | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic sequences of war violence

Details

Official Sites:

3L Filmverleih [de]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

6 February 2004 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War

Filming Locations:

A-San City, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

$12,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$363,439 (USA) (3 September 2004)

Gross:

$1,110,186 (USA) (10 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Showbox Entertainment, Kang Je-Kyu Film Co. Ltd., KD Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min 148 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To recreate the battle at Doo-Mil-Ryung, the scene required 15,000 bullets, 3,000 extras and 500 stunt experts. Instead of rifles being fired, fist fights were the main focus of the scene and all of the cast were specially trained. The shoot lasted 3 weeks with about 50 minor accidents a day on average, but the scene was finally wrapped without any major accidents.

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Goofs

In the scene where the South Koreans are retreating from the Chinese, one of the POWs takes a pistol from an injured soldier, shooting him twice. When he shoots the soldier a second time, the sound of the gunshot is out of sync with the slide kicking back (Just before it shows the soldier getting shot, you can clearly see the slide is back, but the gunshot is heard a few seconds later).

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Quotes

Jin-tae: Look at me. Trust me.

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Connections

References Saving Private Ryan (1998)

User Reviews

Better than any Hollywood production

I have watched Taegukgi for the first time just yesterday, so my impressions of the movie are still fresh. I have not known much about the Korean War that took place at the beginning of the 1950's, but that was a history lesson I will not easily forget. Taegukgi is really the best (anti-)war movie I have ever seen. And believe me, I have seen a lot. But no movie ever before has impressed me so much. In most Hollywood productions there is only one perspective, the winners view. Many directors tried to make a movie that shows both sides of the conflict, but all of them failed. Until now: Taegugki is showing the situation mostly from the south korean view too, but it is the first movie which shows also the "other side". I was very surprised, that the director showed also the crime that his own government committed to their own people at this time. That movie is the first war movie that is not glorifying war - it's horrifying, terrifying, scary - like in reality.