[UPDATE: Added an English subtitled trailer.]
Though I'm a little bit baffled by the choice to give Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War director Kang Je-gyu's latest a title that makes it sound like a romcom instead of the big budget war drama that it is the simple fact is that when it comes to large scale military action few, if any, are doing it as well as Kang anywhere in the world today.
Kang's My Way is a pan-Asian production backed by producers in Korea, China and Japan with an impressive cast - Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri and Fan Bingbing - from all three territories. That collaborative effort was required to get this thing mounted on the scale that Kang wanted and, clearly, it has worked.
Kang's My Way is a pan-Asian production backed by producers in Korea, China and Japan with an impressive cast - Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri and Fan Bingbing - from all three territories. That collaborative effort was required to get this thing mounted on the scale that Kang wanted and, clearly, it has worked.
We ran the initial teaser and trailer for this one a while back and those have now been followed by a second trailer that shows off the epic battle sequences to great effect. Check it below.The setting is Seoul, in Japan-colonized Korea. Jun-shik, who lives and works in a large Japanese estate--which belongs to Tatsuo's grandfather--and Tatsuo are rivals, both aiming to become competitors in the upcoming marathon. Jun-shik becomes elected to participate in the Tokyo Olympics as a marathon runner, but war breaks out with the U.S.S.R. and he is forced to enlist in the army.
One day, Tatsuo is recruited to become the head of defense in Jun-shik's unit. Tatsuo devises a scheme to attack the Soviets but the plan falls apart and Tatsuo and Jun-shik are held captive. When the Germans attack the Soviets, the POWs are forced to join the Soviet Army. Jun-shik and Tatsuo try to escape, but are captured by the Germans, and the two are forced to separate.
In 1944, on the shores of Normandy--where Tatsuo has been allocated to--Jun-shik and Tatsuo meet again. Jun-shik has long become a German soldier at this point, and the battle against the Allied Forces are imminent. Upon hearing that an exit passage was possible via Cherbourg, Tatsuo proposes to Jun-shik that they escape together. Amidst the chaotic throes of an enemy attack, Tatsuo and Jun-shik make a run for their lives.