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Korean/Japanese Language Track and Removable English Subtitles, on Korean DVD (Region 3 NTSC, enterOne 2-disk set, 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen). Director: Lee Si-Myung; Starring: Jang Dong-Gun (star of blockbuster "Friend") as Masayuki Sakamoto; Toru Nakamura ("Gen-X Cops", "Tokyo Raiders") as Shojiro Saigo; Seo Jin-Ho as Hye; Additional Cast: Shin Gu; Ahn Kil-Sang; Cho Sang-Keun; Chun Ho-Jin; Genres: Sci-Fi/Alternate History/Action; Plot Summary: In 1909 the Japanese statesman Ito Hirobumi was assassinated by Korean Nationalist An Chung-Gun. In the Alternate History of "2009 Lost Memories", Ito was saved when An was stopped. As a result, the Korean Nationalist cause was never successful. Japan won World War II -- with the USA as an ally! Korea has been totally ruled by Japan for a century, and almost completely Japanized. Korean people and culture are relegated to scattered "Koreatown" ghettos. But a violent grassroots Korean movement called Hureisenjin engages in sporadic terrorism. The JBI (Japanese Bureau of Investigation) tries to crush Hureisenjin. JBI cops Masayuki Sakamoto and Shojiro Saigo try to solve the terrorism-related theft of mysterious artefacts of Korean culture. Masayuki Sakamoto has a private agenda, because his father, also a cop, was shot by his own group's officers while working for the Hureisenjin. Complicating his motives, Sakamoto is ethnically Korean, but sees the underground nationlist group as essentially criminal (as opposed to patriotic). He is indifferent, idologically, to Korean Nationalism. The plot thickens in a "Bladerunner" style, as Sakamoto dreams about a quarter-moon necklace, which is somehow one of the sought-after artefacts. The artefacts are owned by a shadowy Inoue Foundation, a rich, powerful, and ruthless corporate conglomerate. When Sakamoto sniffs round the Inoue scene, he sets subplots in motion, that (unknown to him) depend on the founder being the very man who killed the assassin An Chung-Gun in 1909. Hureisenjin may hunger for revenge and justice more than nationalism. There are interesting themes introduced, and science fictional twists and turns. But the spectacular fight and action sequences get the upper hand over the promising philosophical matters, and three-quartewrs through the 2 hour film, it becomes evident where the plot is going. The film twists and counter-twists, as if Lee Si-Myung can't decide whether to go for mainstream crowd-pleaser or art-film sophistication. In Philip K. Dick's Alternate History "The Man in the High Castle", Japan and Germany have conqured the USA, but we are not clear whether the Japanese are good or bad, and we have no idea where the plot is heading. Ironically, the American Philip K. Dick used the Chinese "I-Ching" to make pseudo-random plot choices, while the Korean Lee Si-Myung uses Hollywood happy ending protocol. Still, this is an intense and very watchable film. |
