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where faith and film are intertwined

North Korea

The Battle of Jangsari: The Bloody Battle of Brother Against Brother

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Directed by Kwan Kyung-Tae, The Battle of Jangsari is a gruelling war thriller showcasing a horrific battle of the Korean war in the 1950’s. At a crucial point in the war, a small group of South Korean soldiers must fight for a tactical strip of land on Incheon, called Jangsari Beach. The inexperienced group of underdogs consists mostly of recruits with (at most) 10 days of training and are severely underprepared in ammunition, rations, and overall supplies yet they must try to fight against the odds and the brutality of war.

The beauty of The Battle of Jangsari is that really portrays the different perspectives that these young soldiers experience when going through the pitifulness of war. Focusing on the recruits, each character has their own individual story but there seem to be two common motivations that unite them: they either want revenge on the North Koreans for attacking them or they want to be seen as heroes for protecting their own people, the South Koreans. In Jangsari, Kwan does a great job showing how the propaganda of South Korea has influenced the young soldiers to fight against their enemies. In reality, a lot of North Korea’s soldiers were people forced to fight for their country or face execution. Another thing the film takes note of is that Korea had only split in 1945. So, only 5 years before the war, they had considered themselves one country and one people. As a result, the war ultimately became brother fighting against brother as both sides were Koreans fighting for freedom from one another and killing each other senselessly. 

Personally, I loved how beautiful the sets were and how each scene captured the intensity of war. Through the large set pieces, the viewer feels like they’re actually there joining the South Koreans and fighting in the name of freedom. Featuring an enormous cast, the film brings to life the scale of war and the devasting onslaught of bullets and artillery firing constantly. In doing so, Jangsari proves that, no matter beautiful or blessed your life was before, once you reach the battlefield of war nothing changes the devastation of what hot lead and shrapnel can do to human flesh.  

Overall, The Battle of Jangsari is a great war film that showcases an intense battle at a crucial point in the Korean war. In the end, I recommend the film as it beautifully portrays the futility of war and the senselessness of violence. 

The Battle of Jangsari is available on BluRay and On Demand now.

The Story of Us Ep. 2: Why Can’t We Just Get Along?

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(National Geographic/Maria Bohe)

War is not a topic many of us enjoy discussing, and it’s easy to see why. Tensions around the world are currently at a fever pitch as the US and North Korea play a game of chicken over nuclear weapons.  Drone warfare has made it as easy to kill real people as it is to grab a joystick and press a button.  Nobody wants to deal with the effects dueling groups of people can cause—we’ve seen it over and over throughout the annals of history. In the second episode of The Story of Us (National Geographic, 9 PM/8 CT Wednesdays and on demand), Morgan Freeman took a closer look at this issue and discovered some solutions on how to help make lasting peace a reality.

The episode, entitled “The Fight for Peace,” is an interesting juxtaposition of words.  Since Cain killed Abel in Genesis, fighting has been a part of society—for better or worse.  But a lasting peace is always desirable in the end.  Freeman made a trip to Ethiopia and watched two tribes conduct a peace ceremony to end fighting over livestock, pasture lands, and simple theft.  It was fascinating to watch and encouraging to see members of the rival tribes go off together as friends.  Later, Freeman visited Rwanda, the site of a ghastly genocide that killed upwards of one million people in a little over three months.  It took a lot to get things back to something resembling order, but reconciliation is finally starting to occur.

(National Geographic/Maria Bohe)

In some places, there is still tension in the air over past events.  One example is in Ireland, where Catholics and Protestants fought for decades and still segregate themselves for the most part (see the picture above of Freeman looking at one of the 30-foot tall Peace Walls).  Being together brings about the possibility of retaliation from either side.  In other cases, some tribes in South America believe the shedding of blood helps to end disputes.  Every year, they get together for a festival and after getting drunk, start fights with fellow tribes intentionally, stopping only when someone bleeds (but not killed).  Violent, yes.  But they seem to think it works.

Yet we know war isn’t the final answer. It’s going to be a worldwide issue until humans breathe their last breath.  So what will it take to keep peace in the meantime?  If we use the takeaways from the second episode of The Story of Us, we’ll have to eschew revenge and focus on communication, reconciliation, and forgiveness.  It might not be the easiest thing to do when we’re wronged, but it’s where God can enter the picture and make a major impression in someone’s life.  The Rwanda story was unique as the two individuals interviewed were from different tribes (and the man had killed the lady’s husband, brother, and two of her kids) and yet with God’s help, there was forgiveness and a peace that simply cannot come as a result of human intervention.

In fact, the apostle Paul told the Roman church the following: “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21 NASB).”

It’s amazing how advice from two millennia ago can still be timely in an age of distrust and uncertainty. May we employ it before it’s too late.

NEXT WEEK: Episode 3: The Power of Love

 

The Story of Us Ep. 1: Keep Pressing On

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(National Geographic/Maria Bohe)

In the first of a new six-part series on National Geographic, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman sheds some light on who humanity is at this stage of world history. Called The Story of Us (airing Wednesdays @ 9 PM/8 CT and On-Demand), it follows in a similar vein to his series The Story of God yet brings the story closer to home.  If the first episode (“The March to Freedom”) was any indication, the rest of the series is worth paying careful attention to.

Most of us have never found ourselves in a position where our freedom has been compromised to the point where we’ve truly had to suffer.  I’m not talking about the local restaurant running out of a menu item, but where liberties and rights simply refuse to exist.  Enduring such situations is incredibly difficult, yet a newfound hope and desire to make freedom a closer reality for others can spring up from where there was nothing before.

As in The Story of God, Freeman uses a series of interviews to tell an overall story, adding commentary tying them together. The interviews tend to be quite varied, providing additional interest in the show’s topic. In the case of the first episode, Freeman spent some time with an individual who was born and raised in a North Korean prison camp, a gentleman placed in solitary confinement for 43 years (yes, you read that correctly), a Guatemalan lady who won the Nobel Peace Prize—but not after watching her entire extended family die as the result of brutal political oppression, and a few others. Freeman is a good interviewer, exhibiting an easygoing manner while asking appropriate, thought-provoking questions.

I came away from the first episode with a sense that perhaps we have some learning to do. Freedom allows a person to have dreams, visions, and hopes for today and the future. When freedom is gone, all that is left is a ghostly shell of an existence. But the glimmers of what might be can provide fuel for possibility and give a person a reason to wake up and make a powerful difference in their sphere of influence.  Christians find a spiritual version of this freedom in Jesus. However, spiritual freedom does not mean living in the past; instead, by pressing forward and loving God and treating others as they want to be treated, they can help others discover the same freedom they enjoy (see Galatians 5:13-14).

May we discover freedom and point people in that direction in some way today.

NEXT WEEK: Episode 2: The Fight for Peace