When North Korea invades the South, two brothers are forcibly drafted into the army. The older of the two, hoping to win a medal and ticket home for his younger brother, begins going on every suicide mission offered. This, however, puts a strain on his relationship with his brother and those in the platoon. Worse the course of the war has several nasty turns waiting for them...

I'm of two minds about this film. Despite the fact this is a graphic example of both the physical and psychic effects of war, the narrative is more than a bit disjointed. The film is loosely connected snapshots of the course of the war, beginning right before the invasion, then several weeks later before jumping about a month at a time to certain key events. I'm sure that had I better grasp of the history of the war I would have understood the events better. I felt lost and wished there had been more explanation. The lack of a narrative that follows all the way from start to finish hurts the film since we're moved a bit too much from place to place and situation to situation

But the course of the war is not the purpose of the film, rather its the relationship between two brothers. How war changes them and everything in and around them except the love they have for each other. Its a bit hokey but its dead on, just ask anyone who's ever loved their sibling unquestioningly. You understand how one brother would spend 50 years trying to find the other.

And then there are the battle scenes which are wonderful and frightening and seem to be the total chaos that war really is. People die horribly and the experience is far from fun.

Is the movie worth seeing?

Yes. Its not perfect but its a kick in the pants.

8 out of 10.

This South Korean war movie was internationally distinguished after its popularity made it the most successful Korean film of all time...and it brings with it a reputation of gravitas and emotion that is not entirely without merit. Told in flashback, it's a tale of how two brothers are torn away from their family and forced to join the South Korean army. After engaging in lots of terrible missions, the elder brother becomes desensitised to the violence and turns as brutal as the enemy. When his fiancée is shot and he thinks his brother is killed, he transfers to the North Korean army, and the conclusion is set for an inevitable confrontation between the two siblings, who now fight on different sides.

This film is very well made, exquisitely shot and with some very good acting from the cast; the supporting actors and actresses are all good, but the real focus is on the two main brothers, and both are fine. Won Bin has the larger role as the younger brother who grieves over the disappearance of his sibling, but the best performance comes from Jang Dong-Kun, who gets to run the gamut of emotions from A-Z, starting off as a headstrong youth, become a valiant hero, turning embittered and entirely ruthless, and ending up as a crazed, almost possessed evil killing machine.

Much of the film is taken up with fighting, and the battles are as realistic and brutal as in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Crystal-clear camera-work throws you into the trenches as earth flies through the air from mortar strikes and bodies are repeatedly torn to pieces by the incoming gunfire. These parts of the movie are visceral and horrifying, recalling such films as BLACK HAWK DOWN; certainly the horror of warfare is brought across. The bodies of massacred villagers are booby-trapped to blow, hands and legs are blown off by mines and bullets, and in some cases, heads literally explode. Certainly the level of blood and guts makes this one of the grisliest war films I've watched.

The only real problem with this film is the nature of the narrative, which keeps jumping forward in time, offering visual scenarios of key scenes in the lives of the heroes. As such, the main character's transformation from South Korean hero to North Korean butcher is glossed over, and doesn't come across as believable. Some of the emoting is also a little bit over the top – I'm thinking the train sequence here, as the characters repeatedly cry for their mother. The director would have done well to hold back just a little. Some of the CGI work is also a little bit fake – I could deal with the landscapes, but the CGI aeroplanes are too much. Still, BROTHERHOOD is a great war film, equalling similar US-themed movies and teaching the west about a war that is sometimes forgotten about by those of us living outside of Asia.

In 1950, in South Korea, the shoe-shiner Jin-tae Lee (Dong-Kun Jang) and his eighteen years old student brother Jin-seok Lee (Bin Won) form a poor but happy family with their mother (Yeong-ran Lee),Jin-tae's fiancé Young-shin Kim (Eun-ju Lee) and her young sisters. Jin-tae and his mother are tough workers, who sacrifice themselves to send Jin-seok to the university. When North Korea invades the South, the family escapes to a relative's house in the country, but along their journey, Jin-seok is forced to join the army to fight in the front, and Jin-tae enlists too to protect his young brother. The commander promises Jin-tae that if he gets a medal he would release his brother, and Jin-tae becomes the braver soldier in the company. Along the bloody war between brothers, the relationship of Jin-seok with his older brother deteriorates leading to a dramatic and tragic end.

I have just watched one of the most spectacular movies of war of the cinema industry, if not the best. The stunning and overwhelming "Taegukgi Hwinalrimyeo" is impressive and the brilliant direction of Je-gyu Kang and his crew is among the most perfect I have ever seen, with realistic and gore battles and fights. The cinematography is amazing and the camera work in most of the moments seems to be a documentary, so realistic it is. The sad and dramatic story shakes the emotions of the viewer, with another stupid war, and worst, between brothers. Probably this is the best and most visceral anti-war movie ever made. Dong-Kun Jang and Bin Won are amazing and I felt deeply sorrow with the fate of the character performed by the gorgeous Eun-ju Lee. How can this movie be not nominated to the Oscar? My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "A Irmandade da Guerra" ("The Brotherhood of the War")