It’s obvious to suggest that Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan changed the way battle scenes are filmed (a shame about the rest of the film then) and since then many war films have focused on recreating particular battles with immense detail; films like Black Hawk Down show a highly stylised representation of violence. Turn to the other side of the world in Korea and it seems war films here have clearly been influenced by Spielberg’s film but the battle scenes exist in order to forward the narrative and comment on war and the people who fought it. That’s the conclusion I have formed from watching Brotherhood anyway: Korea’s answer to American war films and actually it’s better than most recent American output.

Brotherhood is set in the Korean civil war that occurred in the 50’s between the Communist North Korea and the resistance in South Korea. The narrative follows two brothers who are drafted into the war to fight for the resistance and their struggle to stay together through conflict and get back home alive. The film is bookended with present day scenes and it takes it time getting to the combat, which is nice to see. Jin-seok Lee is the younger of the two brothers and is still in education, the older Jin-tae Lee makes shoes on a market and hopes to one day own his own successful store. Half an hour in to the film these hopes and dreams are shattered and whilst this is a personal film to the Korean nation its dismaying emotional impact still resounds with us.

There are many battle scenes that punctuate the film (too many) and they are filmed brilliantly. They are wonderfully choreographed; as if they haven’t actually been choreographed at all which echoes the total chaos of war. There seems to be an odd fixation on hand to hand combat in the film but it really brings the individual’s struggle to the forefront. The battle scenes are horrific and at times slightly gratuitous but to show war’s devastating effect it must be shown. The director Je-Gyu Kang explores through the gripping dynamic of the two brothers fate, war’s dehumanising effects and that sometimes the political and social ramifications are totally obsolete to those on the battlefield whose only primal instinct to survive and obliterate the enemy without question remains part of their consciousness.

The film appears anti-Communist but in fact it’s just anti-war and although there are entire violent occurrences that could be avoided, the major narrative concern is always apparent and relative to what we see. It’s a vivid portrayal of war not because of what we see but because of what the film communicates to us. Seemingly important characters come and go in an instant and the restricted detail in the narrative really gives the audience a flavour of combat, of not knowing when or where it may come next.

After a very strong first half, the film does get bogged down in a narrative further distanced from reality and too many battle scenes make the picture monotone in its execution but it still remains a powerful film until the end credits. It is an exhausting watch at times and one that probably won’t warrant repeat viewings but it is an truly important film for Koreans (over 10 million Koreans went to see it) and to those who see the film as evidence that good war films that can really nail the essence of its subject matter, can still be made.

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