Movie Review: Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood of War)

I wish this was all just a dream. I want to wake up in my bed, and over breakfast, I'd tell you that I had a strange dream. Then I would go to school, and you and mom would go to work.

Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood of War) is a Korean movie which focuses on the struggles and conflicts between the two brothers who were pulled by the Korean anti-communist government to fight against the Communist people of North. This is actually the fifth Korean movie that I have watched since the hype of Korean drama in the local television after The Classic, My Little Bride, My Sassy Girl and Windstruck. Actually, I was quite curious with this movie since Banban plurked about this Korean flick last night. Because I didn’t have anything to do last night, I give it a try (luckily, someone uploaded the movie in YouTube).


You know, I ain’t a big fan of war movies because one, I hate seeing people dying through the shrapnel of grenades and the piercing noise of tankers and bullets. Two, I hate the sound of explosions. And three, it’s actually a foreign movie. Sometimes, I get a little bit confused on the movie because I am more focused with the subtitles.


But in the end, I was deeply touched by this movie. There are actually lots of things that I really liked about this flick. Tae Guk Gi has similarities with The Classic, a Korean movie since they have the same style at the beginning of the movie, more of starting on the protagonist’s old character then stumbles with things that reminded on their past, the leather shoes for instance in this movie. The movie proceeds with the story behind the leather shoes, all those happy memories with his brother and family before the war of the two opposing forces of Korea broke out. The movie deals with lots of sacrifices of the older brother to his younger sibling and it really touched my heart. Oh by the way, the OST of this movie was really good since it really matched the mood of the movie. The cinematography of this movie was good and visual effects were realistic. Despite on dodging bullets, decapitated heads and blood spurting from the soldier’s body, it was really wonderful and compelling. Above all, I just realized that even if I had a hard time to catch with the subtitles, I still feel the strong emotions from the movie. This flick has the ability to catch every one’s heart. Even if I only understand Kansameda, Ahn-young, Araso and the likes, I can still feel the pains and sufferings of the two brothers.


There was this certain scene on the movie where I almost cried. It was the scene where the younger brother found finally the grave of his older brother and was even talking to the bones of his brother. It’s a sad scene… a really sad scene. *Sigh



I’ll give 4.5 out of 5 stars for this movie but since the rating of 4.5 is impossible on this site, let’s just round off and make it a perfect five!!!



Here’s the trailer so you might have an idea what the movie ‘looks’ like. Lol. BTW, the movie was released around 2004 and won numerous awards in Korea.




and here's the OST