71: Into the Fire
71 Into the Fire is one amongst the best war movies I've seen so far. And, I mean, Saving Private Ryan (which is perhaps my favourite), Band of Brothers, Pearl Harbor, Full Metal Jacket and their ilk were pretty fantastic as well. They have tight storylines and the actions shots are spot-on. But 71...
Starring Choi Seunghyun (aka TOP from Big Bang; the one in the back in the picture) as Oh Jungbeom, 71 tells the true story of a band of 71 (South Korean) trainee soldiers who had to single-handedly fight hundreds of trained North Korean soldiers for elevent hours in order to protect a middle school on June 25th, 1950, needing to hold out until backup arrived... on time... but too late.
Basically, it was a tactical mistake by the S. Korean army. Deciding that the middle school would be safe since the N. Koreans were busy fighting elsewhere, the army commandant dumped the students in that middle school as a last line of defense... but "don't worry, you're completely safe". Not.
TOP plays a quiet, war-weary trainee (Oh Jungbeom) with a tad more experience than the new kids (recalcitrant, self-important juvie-ish kids who laugh in his face and haven't ever held a gun in their lives) he's told to command and train. The movie opens with him running left and right fetching ammo for the war guns in the middle of an explosion-ridden, well, war scene out of your worst nightmare. A soldier he's befriended is harpooned right in front of him at one point while he stands there first struck dumb, then shakily aiming, then fidgeting to reload his gun when he realises the magazine is empty. Thus begins our journey into 71, where we're faced with the futility and fragility of death and the coming-of-age of young, unprepared men pitted against each other but finally coming together against an enemy much greater than them.
I loved this movie (watched this months ago actually, forgive the tardiness ;) for the sensibility translated into it. We're shown Jung-Beom's journey from a war-distraught youth who nevetheless ploughs on and discovers his leadership skills.
Warning: if you like prettily-wrapped happy endings, you won't find one in here. A lesson in Korean history: those 71 student soldiers... they don't make it alive. Yet let me tell you, the end is glorious. I cried. A lot.
So where can you watch this gem (which, by the way, is one of the highest-grossing movies in South Korea to this day)? Right here, baby. If these links don't work -- remember, I watched this a while ago -- then you can google- or youtube-fu :)
P.S. TOP isn't an actor to begin with, but he's one of the best singer-turned-actor examples I've seen to date. He won an award for his role in this :)
P.P.S. IIRC, TOP's song "Oh Mom" was featured in the movie, so if you decide to watch, watch out for the scene where Jungbeom writes to his mum. When I first saw it I thought it detracted a bit from the heartwrenching moment, but the song grew on me.
Anyway, do watch :)