Mai wei

Greetings again from the darkness. Was anxious to see a big-budget Korean take on WWII, and overall came away impressed ... despite the shortcomings and annoyances. My history with Korean films have been limited to small, intimate stories told with quiet manner, and frenetic action flicks with sub-standard stunt work. Director and co-writer Je-kyu Kang attempts to combine an intimate story of two young men with an epic war film with a record body count and excruciatingly frequent number of cuts/edits.

The movie starts off by showing us how the lives of two boys first intersect. Jun-shik Kim (by Dong-gun Jong) is a farmer's son whose dad works on the estate of Tatsuo Hasegawa's (Jo Odagiri) grandfather. A wide class difference separates the boys, but their love of running generates a severe feud ... a rivalry that won't die easily. All of this takes place in Japan-occupied Korea, and it's clear early on that the filmmaker sets out to defend all Korean actions.

Inspired by a real life 1944 photo that shows a Korean soldier being captured while wearing a Nazi uniform, the back-story here is as strange and complex as any you have seen ... unfortunately, it is handled with the manipulative touch of a sledge hammer. As their marathon-running rivalry reaches a crescendo, both boys are drawn into the Japanese Army, albeit via substantially different routes. Tatsuo is an officer, while Jun-shik is an enslaved line soldier. Their bitter rivalry does not stop for a little thing like WWII and it leads to many moments of near insanity.

What really is impressive about the film is the three main battle scenes, especially the storming of Normandy Beach. If you have seen Saving Private Ryan, then you know the model ... however, this one takes it even further. It is intense, loud and brutal. The question of whether the rivalry can survive capture by Russians and then Nazi's, or whether survival instincts take over is really the heart of the story.

As terrific as the battle scenes are, it is impossible not to mention the hyper-editing that lasts most of the film's 142 minutes. It is hard on the senses and makes the action difficult to follow ... which is a shame for a film that offers so much realism in war scenes. Still, it's not an easy film to watch and we care enough about the two characters to put up with the eyeball attack we get in most scenes.

For the budget this movie was made on Hollywood could never come close to making such a well done movie. The cost in South Korean Won was 30 billion which is 26 million in US currency. There was never a dull moment in the movie which is over 2 hours long. The acting was pretty much spot on. The battle scenes were awesome very brutal and bloody but not over the top like some of the war films Hollywood puts out. I watched it in English 5.1 the sound quality and dubbing was excellent which is rare in this type of movie.This will be on my favorites list for sure. Ranks up there with Flags of Our Fathers,Saving Private Ryan and Letters from Iwo Jima. Just an FYI the new Batman had a budget of 500 million est.

I guess I have Korean director Kang Je-Gyu to thank for sparking an interest in Korean films. No it wasn't any of the masters of old who got me hooked, but my first foray into Korean cinema on the big screen was actually to watch his Shiri, and while some may be of the opinion it's nothing more than a standard action thriller fare, it got me hooked, and to wonder just what more is out there in Korean cinema. And Kang went on to direct only 2 more films over a twelve year period, the first being the war movie Taegukgi, and now My Way.

So in a way, that makes it three films in a row that he's dabbled with men in uniform, exploring themes like brotherhood and friendship in blockbusters starring some of the biggest names in the industry. And in My Way, he teams up with Korea's Jang Dong-Gun, and Japan's Joe Odagiri who play rivals in Cain and Abel style, the former being a young boy working in the latter's family during the Japanese occupation of Korea, only for a terrorist incident to forever scar their potential friendship into deep hatred between the men, especially for Joe's Tatsuo against Jang's Joon-Sik. And their rivalry extends to their love for running long distance, almost always on par in countless of marathons they participate in.

The story written by Kang, Na Hyun and Kim Byung-In then centers the narrative against the run up to the Second World War, with the premise having to build up and culminate in Normandy during D-Day. So that takes the men, now in army fatigues with Joon-Sik being one of many Koreans forced to conscript in the Japanese Imperial Army, and under the arrogant, merciless leadership of Tatsuo in what would be convenience to further the two men's rivalry, especially when one is put in a lowly position, and the other having life and death powers over the man he loved to hate. The trio of writers managed to pack this film with enough incidents befitting any war movie, from POW imprisonment, disobedience of orders, torture and the likes, and playing on the theme of Karma, having what went around coming around to perpetrators. Not a very subtle approach though.

With a war setting, expect plenty of theatres of battles across different territories and under various banners and allegiances, such as the Japanese, Soviets, and Germans even, and you can tell where the money went into recreating their realism from uniforms, weapons and vehicles, together with the recreation of the Normandy invasion. Don't expect too much accuracy though if you think that D-Day and other battles, were won/lost in a few minutes, but one does get impressed by the effort to ensure that each battle got portrayed on as large a canvas possible, making it feel that the series of events the characters find themselves into, are far larger than their individual. There are times though that the editing and leaving of material on the cutting room floor had led to episodes being spliced together rather haphazardly, so that's a bit of a pity.

It's steeped in testosterone, if not for China's Fan Bingbing playing a bit role here as a sniper with vengeance against the Japanese at the top of her mind, and of course with her potential of opening up this film to the Mainland market. Other supporting acts include the good friends of Joon-Sik, such as Jong-Dae (Kim In-Kwon) who probably was the only supporting character given enough time for character development, and being somewhat of an in- between of the two men, offering a view of what each of them had, or could have, become. And this character alone demonstrates how adaptable Man can be when faced with circumstances that calls for that fine balance between morals, ideals and the basic need for survival. Recommended!

Although very lengthy and extremely graphic, My way will keep you fully engaged and emotionally attached for the duration of the film. A very interesting perspective of World War 2 and an incredible story that brings tears to the eyes and teaches the significance of true brotherhood. Esthetically pleasing and gut wrenching at times, you'll wish My Way could be even longer.

While waiting from Hollywood or American cinematography to blasts away with an adventure of epic proportions heres comes this outsider. The cheesy story of two friends that lives an entire life in war and madness brings out the best in the latest Asian cinematography. Great story,amazing war battles never seen before,enough depth in the characters to make a movie worth seeing,a tight and emotional little jewel from Korea that comes as an outsider to win this year our cinematic addictions of what movies is all about. This movie is Epic in all levels and a definitely miss-not for the cinefils that respects theirself. The word Epic redefines it's self,so simple.