Category: IIB (Korean)

It's been impossible to escape the hype surrounding Taegukgi. MTR concourses are plastered with posters extolling its merits, and both the director, Kang Je-kyu, and its young star, Won Bin, were in town last week to help drum up business.

Thankfully, the film fulfils all that we were promised. Kang - the man behind the excellent thriller Shiri (1999) - has tackled a topic ignored by South Korea's filmmakers: the war that turned the divided nation in on itself. In doing so he may well have borrowed heavily from Hollywood features such as Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980), but there's more than enough of his own considerable style here to ensure Taegukgi will remain one of the more memorable cinematic experiences of the year.

The plot involves a pair of brothers (as opposed to a band) conscripted into the South's army. Older brother Jin-tae (Jang Dong-gun) has worked hard to give his younger brother Jin-suk (Won) the kind of opportunities in life he's missed out on. And when they come to face life at the front, Jin-tae takes it on himself to keep the young kid out of trouble - at any cost. So, we have scenes where Jin-suk's behaviour borders on the insane. Gradually, the pair's loyalty to each other is put to the test.

As well as providing some intense, harrowing scenes of these men in battle, Kang allows the human drama to unfold at a pace that allows you to become involved. He builds the relationships rather than just throwing them in to fill up the quiet bits between battles. It's a little over-melodramatic at times, but it's such an engaging experience that you can't help but be swept up in it all.

Jang hold his own as the stoic Jin-tae, while Won - darling to thousands in Hong Kong thanks to his TV roles - has been given full rein in his second cinematic role (after 2001's Guns and Talks), and rises to the challenge. He convincingly makes the transformation from wide-eyed student to hardened war veteran.

The project is epic in all proportions: issues tackled, battles waged, emotions wrought, and even time spent in your seat (140 minutes, no less). Real, old-school entertainment.

Taegukgi opens today.