Title: Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War
Released: 2004
Directed by: Kang Je-gyu
Written by: Kang Je-gyu
Run Time: 148 min.
Language: Korean

Casts:
Jang Dong-Gun
Won Bin
Lee Eun-Ju
Gong Hyeong Jin

Synopsis:
This film delves into the bond between two innocent brothers who are sent into battle against their wills. The elder, Yi Jin-tae (Jang Dong-gun), owned a shoeshine in Seoul before the start of the war. His younger brother, Yi Jin-seok (Won Bin), is a bright young student who wants to attend college.

Not long after the North Korean invasion on 25 June 1950, Jin Seok is drafted into the South Korean army, in an attempt to save him, Jin Tae is also drafted into the ROK army and sent to the frontline. Jin-tae, wanting to spare his brother's life, makes a deal with his superior. If he can earn a "Taegeuk Medal" — the highest honour for a South Korean soldier, his younger brother (Jin Seok) will be discharged from the army.

To win this medal, Jin-tae willingly takes on all sorts of sucidal missions ( including single handedly charging a machine gun nest). He finally earns it by capturing a North Korean commander alive, but at the cost of good friend Yong Man's life. Jin-seok, who is not aware of his brother's intentions to save him, starts to question Jin-tae's morality. At the same time, the formerly gentle Jin-tae has become cold-blooded through having killed so many people.

In a bloody hunt for communists undertaken by the South Koreans, Jin-tae's fiancee/girlfriend, Young-shin (played by Lee Eun-ju) is killed and Jin-seok is arrested. Later, during a surprise attack from the North Koreans, a South Korean commander orders for the place that Jin-seok is imprisoned in to be set on fire. Jin-tae mistakenly believes that his brother was killed in the fire and goes mad. He kills the commander he thinks responsible and joins the North Koreans. Several months later, from a decorated model soldier of the South, Jin-tae, apparently driven crazy by his losses at the hands of his own side, becomes a commander in the North Korean army, and a senseless killing machine with a hatred for South Koreans.

The two brothers, separated by war, meet again on the battlefield. Not recognising his own brother, Jin-tae initially tries to kill Jin-seok, but finally recognizes him. When Jin-tae is wounded, his brother tries to carry him off the battlefield, but is then wounded himself.

The movie then depicts Jin-tae's death as he bravely mans a machine-gun post to hold off the North Koreans, killing many in the process and allowing Jin-seok to escape, but is inevitably overwhelmed and killed himself, his body curled up, riddled with bullets. The film ends with an emotional transition from the past to the present from that same position as the younger brother begs for his older brother's remains to speak to him, citing the promises that the two made. The movie then transitions back to happier times, showing Jin-seok and Young-shin's younger siblings talking about returning to school.

+credits to wikipedia+

This post has been edited by silverbear: Nov 25 2006, 12:55 AM