My Way

Two young men who run against each other in Japanese-occupied Korea, one Korean and one Japanese, meet again years later in the same army and then in the same prison camps. They pass through the Soviet, German and finally the Normandy fronts. The film sustains their rivalry across the whole war, and the narrative questions what a uniform defines: both wear the uniforms of three different armies and choose none of them. Kang Je-kyu directed, with Jang Dong-gun and Joe Odagiri. It was among the most expensive Korean productions of its time. Before watching: it draws on an account of an Asian soldier captured in Normandy, and that account is itself disputed by historians. Do not look for documentary accuracy. The combat is also extremely bloody.