The Age of Shadows

"The Age of Shadows" is a historically inspired dramatic action-thriller about a group of Korean resistance fighters who are opposing the peninsula's Japanese occupation. Directed and written by creative mastermind Kim Jee-won and starring South Korean top actors like Lee Byung-hun, this epic film became South Korea's official submission for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. While the premises seemed to be very positive, I was slightly disappointed by the movie.

First of all, a much better movie with a very similar story line called "Assassination" was released only one year earlier and it beats this flick in terms of acting, pace, settings and story. It's quite difficult to identify with the main character in "The Age of Shadow" who constantly changes sides and doesn't seem to know what he believes in. Instead of portraying a man torn between two choices, the movie focuses on a rather antipathic and egoistic character who is thinking about his own advantage at all times. Even an outstanding actor like Song Kang-ho can't make this dull main character any more exciting.

"The Age of Shadow" starts with an explosive opening scene only to lead towards a lengthy introduction with endless dialogues and numerous characters. It takes close to one hour before the pace quickens up again. The first half of the movie is definitely too long and often lost my interest.

While the settings of the movie are very realistic and bring to life a genuine depiction of the Korean peninsula in the forties, the costumes and locations aren't as detailed and memorable as in many other South Korean high-quality productions.

The story remains somewhat shallow in my opinion. It's obvious that the members of the resistance are trying to attack the Japanese occupants but the film never really explains what they are organizing precisely. It's quite unsatisfying to realize that the resistance's charismatic leader is taking many risks by trusting a highly unreliable main character and personally organizing an attack against the enemy that is never ever specified. The ending also leaves many questions open and feels unfinished to me.

Despite these flaws, the movie also has many strong points. The side characters are portrayed excellently and add some depth to the movie. Especially the clever villain portrayed by Um Tae-goo is very creepy. The movie also convinces in its more intense passages. The opening scene is both dynamic and memorable. The climax on the train is very tense and will get you on the edge of your seat. The last thirty minutes of the film have a welcome dramatic and emotional touch. The settings are authentic and especially the scenes on the train, in different torture chambers and in the prison are beautifully crafted and provide a gripping and sinister atmosphere. While the story is maybe the movie's biggest flaw, it still requests some thinking from the audience and includes a few minor twists in the second half of the film that save this movie for me.

Maybe my rating would be slightly more generous if the excellent "Assassination" hadn't been released a year earlier. That film's excellent execution from any point of view makes "The Age of Shadows" look quite predictable, redundant and even unnecessary. Faithful fans of contemporary South Korean cinema should still watch both movies but I would only recommend "Assassination" to occasional international audiences. "The Age of Shadows" really pales in comparison to Choi Dong-hoon's "Assassination". On a closing note, South Korea should have chosen the outstanding horror film "The Wailing" as official submission for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.

This film has strong commercial potential because of its suspenseful narrative structure; the bravado cinematography and editing; the strong acting; the powerfully evocative production design; and the effective musical score. Loved the entire look of the film. Love the sepia tone, the 1920s period costumes and sets, the compelling storyline, and the circularity of the narrative structure. To me, the strongest storytellers working today in cinema are from Asia, and that makes me so very happy as Asian cinema has lost a lot of its standing in World Cinema without the post-War (II) Japanese masters.

Score Grid (out of 4)

Script/Story: 4

Cinematography/Visual Effect: 4+

Editing: 4

Sound/Musical Score: 4

Production Design: 4+

Acting/Performance: 4

Recommend the film? Absolutely. This foreign film has the appeal of today's Hollywood products: the action, suspense, music, etc. The operatic concluding scene -- underscored by Ravel's Bolero -- owes so much to both Scorsese and FFCoppola. Also to Andrze Wajda really in look and feel; wonder if Kim Jee-woon is familiar with the Polish master's work?

Thumbs way up!

A period drama pierced with elements of action & thriller that's polished in all filmmaking aspects and manages to be a tense, riveting ride for the majority of its runtime, The Age of Shadows maintains its gripping aura for the first two acts with its cleverly constructed & palpably tense cat-n-mouse premise but falters during the final act that feels a tad too drawn out & melodramatic. Worth a shot for the impressive set pieces it has in store.

Mil Jeong (밀정 ~ The Age of Shadows).

Viewed at 2016 Venice FilmFestival. Tremendous Korean epochal drama about life and resistance under the oppressive Japanese occupation in the early decades of the century. Director Kim Jaewoon really knows how to set up drama and suspense mixed with blazing action. There was so much in this film that I felt like I was watching a Beethoven symphony. Dark Sepia toned photography used to good effect enhances period feel. Musical soundtrack employs jazz and adrenaline tensor stretches and the final shootout in the train station is orchestrated deftly to Ravel's Bolero.

139' running time is long and winds up with several anticlimactic codas but never lets you out if its grip. For Koreans this is clearly a film with heavy patriotic messages. The final theme is "Don't let your failures stop you -- build on them and rise to the next level" -- until victory is achieved. I would love to see this film with a Korean audience and would expect to see people on their feet cheering at the end... A young Italian I met afterwards said he loved it even though he knows nothing of the history involved. I could easily see why -- in a way this is something like a Kimchee spaghetti western and charismatic actor Kang-ho Song, 49, has got to be the Korean equivalent of John Wayne, or at least, Robert Mitchum.

If you said to me that a Korean Film can beat 95% of the top films produced in the last 20 years, I would have serious doubts. To explain, I am an Hollywood Worshipper, a Hollywood lover and a picture goer with strong views, likes and dislikes. What we have here is a film that is in the same 'sleeper league; as the ShawShank Redemption, a film with a wonderful story, script, a great cast and one of the best films I have seen for ages. It shown on British TV 23 October 2019, my wife put it on, when she saw it was Korean she lost interest and went to bed, big mistake, I stayed, and was totally hypnotised and absorbed with it, great technical strides have been made in the last 40 years in every department of film production - but in Korea, with a foreign cast, with no familiar names, a film made for adults not 11-year old children, without one car chase, or male film star whose next film is to save the world, or rescue it from Mr Evil Doom, this Korean film Age of Shadows, is one to be fond of, to watch again and again, and in some respects to relive your great film memories sitting in the Empire Cinema, Stockton on Tees, England, when sitting in the Nine-Penny seats watching the African Queen, All About Eve, or the Wizard of Oz, Yes, it is that good. Watch it.