Prisoners of War (2011)

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Movie
German title Prisoners of War
Original title My Way ( 마이 웨이 )
My Way logo.svg
Country of production South Korea
original language Korean , Japanese , Chinese , Russian , German , English
Publishing year 2011
length 144 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Kang Je-gyu
script Kim Byung-in,
Kang Je-gyu
production Kang Je-gyu,
Kim Yong-hwa,
James Choi
music Lee Dong-jun
camera Lee Mo-gae
cut Park Gok-ji
occupation

Yang Kyoungjong

Prisoners of War ( Korean 마이 웨이 , My Way ) is a war film by the South Korean director Kang Je-gyu from 2011. The leading roles were cast internationally by Jang Dong-gun , Joe Odagiri and Fan Bingbing . The film was inspired by the life of Yang Kyoungjong , who fought for the Imperial Japanese Army , the Red Army and the German Wehrmacht during World War II and was captured by the Allies on landing in Normandy .

In South Korea , the film was released on December 21, 2011 and reached over 2.1 million viewers. The film was released in Germany on May 25, 2012 on DVD and Blu-Ray .

action

In 1928 in Keijō , the capital of Japanese-occupied Korea , young Kim Jun-shik, his father and sister Eun-soo worked on the Hasegawa family estate. The family's grandson, Tatsuo, is now also sent from Tokyo to Keijō. Jun-shik and Tatsuo are both gifted runners, and a rivalry develops between the two. In 1936, son Kee-chung became the first Korean-born marathon runner to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games . Afterwards there were riots in Korea due to Korean nationalism and the will for independence. Tatsuo's grandfather is assassinated. Tatsuo then begins to hate the Korean people. The Kim family has to leave the property. Jun-shik no longer runs in races, but works as a rickshaw driver.

The Japanese leadership decides to exclude Korean-born athletes from the national preliminary rounds for the upcoming Olympic Games. But son Kee-chung protests, claiming that Japan's best runner, Tatsuo Hasegawa, cannot beat Kim Jun-shik. Jun-shik wins the marathon for the preliminary round, but the Japanese do not want to accept that and disqualify him. However, as many watched the race, riots broke out. All Koreans involved, including Jun-shik, were forced to fight for the Imperial Japanese Army .

In the Japanese-Soviet border conflict in 1939, Jun-shik's troops were attacked by the Chinese sniper Shirai. This can kill many Japanese, but is ultimately captured by Jun-shik. She wanted to avenge the death of her parents by the Japanese. She is tortured by the Japanese, but Jun-shik feels sorry for her. Shortly afterwards Tatsuo appears as the new commander of the force. He orders a suicide operation for the Korean-born soldiers, but Jun-shik resists. He is said to be tortured the next day. However, with the help of other Koreans, he manages to escape, together with Shirai. But on the run they see Soviet tanks. While the rest of them continue to flee, Jun-shik returns to warn the others. He is attacked by an airplane. Shirai, who ran after Jun-shik, can shoot it down, but is hit by bullets from the plane and dies.

Tatsuo does not listen to Jun-shik on the battlefield and wants to continue the suicide mission. Numerous soldiers are captured by the Soviets and taken to a POW camp in Perm . After the Soviet Union is attacked by the German Wehrmacht, the prisoners of war, including Tatsuo and Jun-shik, are forced to fight for the Red Army . Both are among the few survivors and are now planning to go to Germany. But on the way they are captured by the Germans and have to fight as soldiers there. They are supposed to fight for the Wehrmacht in Normandy . Tatsuo plans to flee to Cherbourg with Jun-shik , from where they could take a ship to Japan. But they are suddenly attacked by the Allies . Jun-shik is fatally wounded in the battle . In his last breath, he gives Tatsuo his dog tag , as a Korean might have better chances with the Allies.

At the end, Tatsuo, named Kim Jun-shik, is seen participating in the 1948 Olympic Games. He remembers meeting Jun-shik as a child and secretly happy to have found a running partner.

reception

With a budget of around 28 billion won , Prisoners of War was one of the most expensive South Korean films, but it fell short of expectations at the box office.

The film received mostly moderate to negative reviews. For Jordan Mintzer of Hollywood Reporter, the film relies too much on effects, explosions and violence. In addition, the dialogues are badly written. VA Musetto of the New York Post shares this verdict and advises not to expect too much in terms of plot. The Cinema rated Prisoners of War as mediocre and praised the "tremendous battles [and] tremendous feelings", but the film oozes pathos. Nicolas Rapold of the New York Times is equally positive about the battles and recommends the film. The film mainly focuses on the relationship between the two rivals and friends. Jay Weissberg believes that the fascinating story was used as an excuse to spend a lot of money on a film. Jang's acting performance is not good, so that the viewer cannot connect emotionally with him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ My Way (2011). In: Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved March 17, 2017 (English).
  2. ^ Prisoners of War. In: splendid. Retrieved March 17, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Korean Mega War Movie Targets Pan-Asian Audience. In: Chosun Ilbo . December 15, 2011, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Carla Sunwoo: Director owns up to box office flop. In: Korea JoongAng Daily . October 10, 2012, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  5. ^ Darcy Paquet: South Korean box office in 2011. In: Korean Cinema Today. January 8, 2012, accessed March 17, 2017 .
  6. ^ My Way: Berlin Film Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter . February 10, 2012, accessed March 18, 2017 .
  7. ^ VA Musetto: My Way. In: New York Post . April 20, 2012, accessed March 18, 2017 .
  8. ^ Prisoners of War. In: Cinema . Retrieved March 18, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Nicolas Rapold: Battlefield Friendship Through Violence of World War II. 'My Way' From the Korean Director Kang Je-kyu. In: The New York Times . April 19, 2012, accessed March 18, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Jay Weissberg: Review: 'My Way'. In: Variety . February 10, 2012, accessed March 18, 2017 .