Wars and youths make the most of conflict, and the best drama.
Soldiers and leaders at wars should not be rash, ignorant, impulsive, scared, or blur. And most teens, are.
Then there is the senseless loss of young lives. Of unrealized potential and bright sparks sniffed off at their prime in battles they may not have chosen to participate or understand.
Like those 71 clueless and inexperienced South Korean students left behind to protect the turf against troops of North Korean army and tanks in 1950.
Close up shots of tank rolling over Harry Potterish specs. Thumb got caught while loading rifle. Boots stepping on dead fingers. A little kid with loaded guns…
But the most heart wrenching moment in 71: Into The Fire is sealed at the credits. When recent interview footage of the survivors of that madness, now in their 60s, is shown.
Director John H. Lee delivered a big film not unlike a Hollywood blockbuster. It’s like Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, maybe even better as it’s less self-indulgent. He also smartly and efficiently paints the North Koreans as humans and not “monsters with horns”. One shot of that enemy leader glancing at a photo of his teenage son with him. One cry of a dying rival- also a teen- for his mother.
34 yo Kwon Sang-woo may be a little too old to play the rebellious jerk, but 23 yo T.O.P plays the shell-shocked baby-faced teenage leader to a T.
