In the scene where the two brothers meet up and fight because of Jin-Tae's insanity, I noticed that no one were shooting, although everyone were armed.
If I had been in that situation I'd have hidden and shot instead of going into a massive hand-fight.
Anyone have an idea as to why? Was it the filmmakers' choice or did it happen that way (perhaps due to lack of ammo?)?
Paggee
[deleted]
You really can't judge this film for being realistic -- it is, far, faaaaaar from it. As much as gore there is, there is a *LOT* of symbolism in this movie. If you haven't caught on, the brothers are supposed to represent the north and the south Koreas, and the movie basically shows that the two brothers, while they love each other deep inside, do not really see what's going on and are instead fighting each other.
****SPOILER ALERT****
At face value, the part you're specifically referring to seems super, duper unrealistic, not just because how unrealistic the battle scenery would be, but also because of the fact that the older brother just can't see his younger brother is right in front of him. (Although the younger brother is screaming at him to come to his senses for like... 5 minutes straight.) But if you understand what the brothers stand for, then that whole scene makes *perfect* sense -- that is, it should be *obvious* that they shouldn't fight because they're brothers, but just like how the real Koreas are going at each other's throats, that isn't the case.
If you understand Korean history, you'll find that there are tons more symbolic figures in the movie. The mute mother, the victimized fiancee, the scenes where the soilders are fighting against their will, etc... They ALL have represent some part of Korean history/segment in that turbulent era.
You may be right - I have no knowledge of Korean history :)
I still think that it seemed awfully wrong in that moment, in a war-movie, that no one chose to shoot and everyone fought with their hands. Due to symbols or not, a war-movie should always maintain some sort of realism, especially in the combat scenes. At least that's my view, and also the reason why I was a bit disappointed, as the rest of the movie was spot-on.
But it is not documentary, so of course the filmmakers have the freedom to shoot the movie based on their own interpretations of history, and add a little flavor of their own. I LOVE this film, dont get me wrong! It disgusted me, it made me laugh, cheer and smile and still kept me on the edge of the sofa the whole time. And last but not least: it made me cry (never happened before).
If there wasn't hand to hand combat, the brothers would never have been able to coem that close in proximity and eventually recognise eachother. So it had to be done. And plus with all the explosions and gun fire, it would be pretty hard to figure out what some random dude is screaming at you.
Do not speak- unless it improves on silence.