Starring: Won Bin, Sin Ha-Gyun, Kim Hae-Suk
Director: An Gwon-Tae
Studio: CJ Entertainment
Rating: 15+
Genre: Drama
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| >>>This DVD is encoded for Region 3 (Southeast Asia & East Asia --- including Korea & Hong Kong). This DVD will NOT be viewable on regular DVD players made in other regions unless they are code-(region-)free DVD players. To learn more about the DVD Region Code, please visit our Help Page and read Info on DVD Region Code. |
About This DVD
If you don't get a sense of what "My Brother" (Uri Hyeong) is going to be about
just from the title, chances are it will be hard to make sense of it even after
you've seen it. A nostalgic tale of two brothers growing up in the port city of
Busan, "My Brother" attempts to get somewhat beyond its title's simplicity by
emphasizing aspects of brotherhood that were supposedly lost with the
modernization of Korea. But the story itself does little more than romanticize
macho fantasy, blending tragedy and nostalgia; it repeats techniques and story
elements that have been used before in Korean films, recently in Friend and
"Once Upon a Time in School." "My Brother" begins right after the death of Sung-hyun
(played by Shin Ha-gyun), the older brother of a rowdy, handsome young man,
Jong-hyun (played by Won Bin). Jong-hyun visits a studio to pick up some photos
his brother took just before he died. He stands there waiting. The next scene
goes back to the siblings' childhood, with narration by Jong-hyun.
"My Brother" is the story of two brothers who choose different paths in life.
After his mother loses all her money in a theft, Jong-hyun goes to work for a
gangster to pay back the family debts; Sung-hyun enters a prestigious medical
school in Seoul. The tragedy continues when Sung-hyun ¡ª who came home to visit
their mother on weekends ¡ª gets killed by the son of someone Jong-hyun
threatened in order to extort money for his boss. The film is ambiguous about
its time period; it only hints that it's set in the late '70s by way of the
cars, the style of the school uniforms and the way the girls behave (though in
one scene a character on a bus reads a TOIEC English textbook, which was
introduced much later). By now, there almost seems to be a formula for films
about growing up in the '70s in Korea. Many take place in boys' schools, with
narration by one of the characters. The roles are laid out clearly in many of
these films: there are aggressive boys, a sacrificing mother, a bullying teacher
and a pretty girl unsure of what she wants.
"My Brother" draws on experiences that might stimulate a sense of nostalgia for
people who went to school in the '70s and '80s ¡ª a poetry reading, for instance,
and the uniforms of the time. But that's pretty much all it does. Considering
the way the film relies on melodramatic, boyish fantasy, viewers might think
they're watching a reincarnation of "Friend," the film about four Busan high
school friends that attracted eight million viewers in 2001. But unlike
"Friend," "My Brother" is a reminder that tragedy and nostalgia don't always
mix.
| Audio Format: | DD 5.1 Surround, DD 2.0 Stereo |
| Video Format: | Widescreen 1.85:1 (Anamorphic) |
| Languages: | Korean |
| Subtitles: | English, Korean |
| Country Made: | Korea |
| Region Code: | 3 |
| Year Made: | 2004 |
| Running Time: | 112 |
| Special Features: | - Commentary by Director,
Cast and Producer - Making of Film - Memories - Cast and Staffs - Conti Image - Deleted Scenes - Commercial Materials |
Availability: |
Usually ships in 5-10 days |
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