White Badge

(Korean)

A Morning Calm Cinema release of a Deil Film production. Produced by Jong Nam Cook. Executive producers, Hak Hun Kim, Dong Kyu Ahn. Directed by Ji Young Chung. Screenplay, Su Young Gong, Young Chel Jo, Seung Bo Shim, Chung, based on the novel by Jung Hyo Ahn.

Kiju Han - Sung Ki Ahn
Chinsu Pyon - Kyung Young Lee
Yongok Kim - Hae Jin Shim
Munki Kim - Yongjae Tokko
Hisik Chon - Sejun Kim
Bangjang Hong - Junho Huh

The "White Badge" of the Tokyo fest-winning Korean pic is a reference to the designation worn by that nation's soldiers fighting in Vietnam. A rumination on war, it falls short of hitting a universal chord. The maiden release of a new U.S. distrib should score some upscale response but will need to enlist ethnic support until inroads can be made for the virtually unknown national cinema stateside.

Story opens at the time of president Park's assassination in 1979. Han (Sung Ki Ahn), a reporter and war vet, is assigned to write a series about the Vietnamese conflict, which still looms large in the national conscience. Coincidental with the task is a phone call from Pyon (Kyung Young Lee), a member of his platoon.

The nature of the story is simple and familiar. The present is infected by the past. The emotionally scarred journalist revisits, in his mind (and onscreen), the tour of duty. What begins as a relatively easy way to collect a soldier's salary evolves into a living nightmare in which less than a handful manage to get out alive.

More complex and less certain is the aftermath. Han has interiorized his problems, while Pyon's are all too readily apparent. For starters, Pyon has adopted a childlike demeanor and is hopelessly rapped in fantasy, incapable of holding a job or sustaining a relationship.

"White Badge" has first-class production values and an exceptionally fine cast. What it lacks are dramatic answers. Director Ji Young Chung provides an assured sense of time and mood. But the character's actions are drawn from movie cliche rather than an outgrowth of the narrative.

Camera (color), Young Gil Yu; editor, Soon Duck Bark; music, Byung Ha Sin. Reviewed at the Laemmle Grande, Nov. 3, 1994. (In Tokyo Film Festival, Kyoto.) Running time: 125 MIN.

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