Cinema
White Badge
하얀전쟁
Jeong Ji-yeong · 1992
Synopsis
In 1979, at the time of the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, Han Ki-ju, a journalist and writer back from Vietnam, separated from his wife, lives a dreary existence. He is commissioned to write a series of articles on the war in which he fought alongside the Americans, and he struggles to write them. The memories come back in nightmares, and a call from Pyon Jin-su, a comrade from his unit whom the war has broken, brings him back to what they lived through there.
Context
The screenplay adapts a novel by Ahn Jung-hyo, published in English under the title White Badge. Ahn Sung-ki plays Han Ki-ju, Lee Kyung-young the comrade and Shim Hye-jin the main female role. London Korean Links reports a budget of two billion won, unprecedented at the time, and combat scenes that surpass those of earlier Korean war films. More than three hundred thousand Korean soldiers served in Vietnam, Encyclopedia.com recalls. The film won the grand prize at the fifth Tokyo International Film Festival and enjoyed public and critical success.
Who it is for
A film of about two hours, between the Seoul of 1979 and memories of the fighting in Vietnam.
Prizes and reception
Distributed abroad on VHS and then on DVD, according to the Encyclopedia.com entry drawn from the VideoHound guide.
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