My Way

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!

I just finished watching this movie and I'm stunned at the beauty and depth of it. I especially like that it jumped right it and didn't linger on character development type stuff-you learned the characters as it went.

What I really wanna say Is that over and over again now it seems that every time i watch a 'good' foreign film, its REALLY good and leaves me wondering when I felt motivated enough about a big Hollywood production to start a post about it.

Hollywood seems to have a habit of bashing me over the head with some agenda or specific train of thought and I appreciate how this movie and many foreign movies I've seen similar to it in value and production either hid its agenda from me nicely, was some 'thought' I didn't understand due to historical understanding, or simply tried to provide a visual story to the best of their ability.

Whatever the case, this movie rocked and I was glued to the very end. I will be searching for more from this director.

My heart felt every second of this movie and finally become awe stack. the script and cinematography are awesome.The love,hate relationship of two childhood friends and the cruelty of war are manifested so properly.It is a awesome choice for war movie loving people.thumbs up the "MY WAY team".

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.

i was at red box last Saturday. i am a 66 yr. old white male brought up dirt poor in the south. all my family is military. all of us. i saw the picture of 2 soldiers walking the other way. i saw the title "my way". i clicked "review". i had to see this movie! i was very sick later that day. i put this movie in the DVD player. it hit me! the south Korean and the Japanese runners! the mud. the language! the realism. this is one of the finest films ever made! the story is true. the characters put Hollywood to shame! the battle scenes. the casting, the cinematography, are out of this world! this is the finest war movie ever made! hands down! if this movie does not take all of the Oscars, send the Oscar committee to north Korea! and leave them!