<--- Click here for a clip from Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War

The perspective of the film easily connects the viewers to the characters; after all, what could arouse more sympathy than a family struggling to stay together during a time of instability and loss? The film takes advantage of this profound connection to hit the audience with quite a few other emotions. From the perspective of the family, this was not a valiant war to defend democratic ideals. This was a family that had attended Communist rallies for the bags of rice that are distributed and an older brother took up shoe-shining so that his younger brother could have a proper education. However cheesy and clichéd, such situations illustrate that political consciousness and promoting ideologies was not a justified cause for war.

This film does not blame or point fingers. It does not mention the Cold War, the Soviet Union, or the United States. In fact, only once is a Caucasian face shown on the screen. The war was one that took place on Korean soil, Korean soldiers were the ones that were killing and being killed, it was Korean history that was forever changed; therefore, this film's focus is entirely on the Koreans, soldiers and civilians. The scenes taken in the modern-day connect a subplot that poignantly reveals how the Korean War has impacted families with lasting effects, and for many, there remains too many unanswered questions.

Unfortunately, there are notable cutural differences that make it difficult for Western audiences to appreciate this film, as described by these reviews:

"Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War" is a difficult movie to describe -- for the simple reason that this South Korean war epic mixes violence and melodrama in quantities no sane American director would attempt…

…the brothers devolve into crazed abstractions of rage and love, capable of little more than crying, howling and killing.

“THE HORROR! THE HORROR! AND THE HYSTERIA!”
The Oregonian
October 30, 2004

Like ancient Korean opera, the movie takes place in a high key and stays there -- pushing an ear-piercing pitch for the duration. This is a movie where the men cry, and the women are shot in the head.

“'Tae Guk Gi' offers some different reactions to war”
The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan)
March 11, 2005

There are some cultural differences that are difficult to overcome, and the concept of one brother diminishing his own life so that another might succeed may be a tough one to sell outside of Korea…

Even more difficult for western audiences might be the degree of violence in the film. Asian audiences are much less offended by blood, a fact noted recently by Quentin Tarantino as he released Asia-only cuts of his Kill Bill films.
it's the latest Korean film to openly long for reunification of North and South.

-The Toronto Star
November 12, 2004

I'll be the first to admit that cultural differences colored my response to the film, which was a massive hit in South Korea. But I don't think I'll be the last Westerner who found it hard to sit through two hours and 20 minutes worth of melodramatic plotting, hysterical acting and brutally graphic combat sequences that are all shot in the same herky-jerky, dirt-sprayed, irritating way.

“ War epic bleeds melodrama”
U-Daily News
September 01, 2004

The theme of brotherly sacrifice is a popular one in Asian cinema, but it is used here for more than its melodramatic appeal. When the younger brother figures out what his sibling is up to, he turns against him, mirroring the suspicion and distrust that characterized then and characterize now the division between North and South Korea, fraternal countries locked in a permanent struggle.

“Revisiting the Korean War in a Tale of Two Brothers”
NY TIMES
September 3, 2004

I was in total agreement with these reviewers, especially when I saw that the film opened with scenes of gag-worthy brotherly love. I even went so far as to condemn it to the same list of other Korean films and mini-series that I had attempted to watch in the past. The idea of an older brother sacrificing his own welfare for the sake of sending his brother to college is very clichéd and overdone, very often inducing heavy groans from second generation Korean-Americans like myself. Likewise for the melodrama that this film capitalizes on. However, the larger-than-life expression of emotions in this film seemed to only accentuate the overall nature of war. The sensitivity of to any stimulus is heightened in emergency situations, and these people were subjected to more than any of us will ever be exposed to. The melodrama combined with the hectic combat scenes and the seemingly mindless atrocities committed by both sides culminate to a realistic depiction of the insanity of war.

Tae Guk Gi also did justice to representing the popular sentiment among the younger generations of South Koreans of today. The sense of nationalism and hopes to extend that to the “brothers” across the Demilitarized Zone are very strong and passionate. The absolute gratitude that the newly-liberated (from Japanese rule) Koreans had for the United States is being re-evaluated, and the idea of not turning to the United States for advice on foreign policy, especially regarding North Korea, is no longer radical thought. The amount of involvement not only the part of the US, but on the part of any foreign nation on an issue that involves “Korea” is being questioned. And the wide-spread support for the recently-instituted “Sunshine” policy and a continuation of such policies towards the north is evident in the elections of previous president Kim Dae-jung and current president Roh Moo-hyun. It is uncertain whether or not goal of reunification is undisputed, nor is it clear what the South Koreans would be willing to yield in order to achieve that goal. However, if what this film appears to be expressing is true, blood is "thicker than ideology," then forgiveness for the lives taken during the war has already been granted.

The excerpts from review of the movie fall in line with this new wave of political consciousness, in regards to the themes of the film:

The Korean filmmaker Kang Je-gyu is the Steven Spielberg of East Asia, and not just because his movies routinely become blockbusters. Both his 1996 first feature, "The Gingko Bed," and his 1999 "Shiri" broke box-office records in South Korea by building compelling genre stories around questions of national identity…

…a film that will inevitably mean more within the culture that produced it than outside. Reportedly, it has become the highest-grossing film of all time in South Korea…

“Revisiting the Korean War in a Tale of Two Brothers”
NY TIMES
September 3, 2004

“Nothing subtle about war film”
The Vancouver Province (British Columbia)
November 12, 2004