Silmido

As the South Korean movie industry matures, more of their feature movies should become of interest to mainstream western audiences. Silmido is one of these movies.

The Korean peninsula continues to experience behind-the-scenes low intensity engagements between the two nations. Set in the 1960's, the nK strikes at the ROK leadership and prompts a response. The KCIA sponsors the formation of a special army unit to strike back at Pyongyang. Comprised of civil prisoners and other outcasts, the movie follows their formation, training, and deployment.

The film covers a great deal of cultural ground. The viewer gets a sense of the male-dominated, hierarchical government with its intrigues and power brokers. The spartan living conditions, training and discipline are not inconsistent with ROK practices. The motto used in the film - "Loyalty" - illustrates the conservative bent of the military system and the social schism which exists between it and the South Korean people at large. The film could have used "Strength and Honor" from Gladiator to the same effect. As a code of behavior, the concept of loyalty is the thematic underpinning for the major plot turns.

While lacking some of the pacing and plot roll-out elements of first tier film efforts, Silmido still delivers an interesting story line and succeeds as an action movie. It offers a harsh indictment of the government's leadership, not unlike American Viet Nam conflict movies, and the viewer is left with a perspective of Korean soldiers as army ants whose sole function is to live and die protecting their society.