Gangnam 1970 is a fiction Korean film that portrays what life was really like in 1970s Korea. The film, which speaks of two childhood orphan friends, is set in the famous Seoul’s Gangnam district during a time where everyone is land hungry. During times of major development and unfathomable corruption in Gangnam, Jongdae and Yongki, despite even having to hug a light bulb together to keep warm, were content with their lives for simply having each other as brothers. However, after thugs destroy their home, desperate to survive, the brothers resort to gang work to earn their living. But when they decide to participate in one last job, a wrong turn by Yongki makes the innocent brotherly bond turn for the worst. As years pass, we see that Jongdae lives an honest life with his new family with a retired gang-leader, Kilsu, while Yongki gets his hands dirty in Seoul’s most powerful gang organization. As Jongdae becomes desperate for money, he gets involved in the political game of land hunting. As the different gangs of Seoul shed endless blood over rights of lands, the brothers coincidentally reunite and join forces, only to realize that in the end, there can only be one victor. The movie brings exciting action and deep relationships to portray the consequences of greed and corruption.

Gangnam 1970 was a long-awaited film for Koreans as it was the last film in screenwriter and director Yoo-Ha’s trilogy “street series.” If his other 19+ films (rated-R films in Korea) films seemed to focus on sexual interactions, this film took a different route. Yoo-ha had wanted to create a film that opened viewers’ eyes on the truth of Korea’s corrupted history, while showing new sides to the story. As actor Kim Raewon, who played Yongki, had already starred as a gangster in his previous works, the public and my spotlight seemed move to actor Lee Minho. Lee Minho, who played Jongdae, was said to initially be rejected by the director because of his role as a cheesy, rich romanticist in his hit drama, “Boys Over Flowers.” However, as he saw the actor take a 180 degree turn in image, the director fell in love. But above all, in seeing Gangnam 1970 I was curious as to learn more about the true history of Korea in action, while wondering how, in fact, Gangnam (a district known for it’s wealth and extravagance) became what it is today in such a short amount of time.

As it was my first time watching a Korean film, I was eager to compare it to American movies. Before watching the film, I questioned the length of the movie (2 hours and 15 minutes). I researched various other Korean movies and there wasn’t one that was less than two hours in length. Why was it so long? As Jongdae and Yongki became deeply involved in political corruption, the amount of bloodshed by their own hands increased. As a rated-R action film, showing blood filled killing was understandable, but it soon became too much. One would think showing more than 10 detailed killing scenes with explosive blood would send the message, but it kept going on. The amount of lengthy, continuous killing scenes became unnecessary to the flow of the film. During that time, I got so bored I just looked around to find around five out of the ten people I saw seemed to be thinking the same thing: “too much.” Aside from the unnecessary scenes, I was disappointed in the character of Yongki. Compared to Jongdae, despite being a co-main character, Yongki didn’t seem to have as much depth. Even during one of his most important scenes when he kills his fellow gang member at the spur of the moment, it wasn’t as impactful as it should have been. When seeing movies, I usually don’t think much of the shortcomings in the production, but in watching a Korean film for the first time, the regretful points came instinctively.

Despite the flaws, Gangnam 1970 had lots of good aspects. For one, there was much focus on how well actor Lee Minho can fit into the role of Jongdae. In order to fit better, the actor lost a lot of weight and didn’t take care of his skin to realistically portray an outerly rough and cold, but innerly soft and warm gangster. Lee Minho’s surprisingly strong yet deep acting proved how much of a chameleon he can be. One more actor I would like to praise was actor Jung Jinyoung who played the former gang leader and Jongdae’s caretaker, Kang Kilsu. Although originally a great actor, I once again fell in love with his silent acting. One scene that remained was when he hit Jongdae for the first time after figuring out Jongdae was involving himself in the gang world once again for his and his daughter’s sake. Although on the exterior he was blowing up with rage, I could feel how heartbroken and desperate he was to stop his “son” from turning bad once again. Although there were much more sad scenes in the movie, like the end, this was the only scene that wrenched my heart and made me close to tears.

Among all the good and bad points of the film, Gangnam 1970 is a film that would appeal to mature people used to the Korean film format. For the mass who are more used to American films and are just looking for a good movie to watch, I wouldn’t recommend this film as the shortcomings might be more prevalent. However, for viewers who were just curious about Lee Minho’s new side, they might enjoy the movie. Finally, for those who are curious of Gangnam’s history, the film might prove to be an enjoyable, accurate portrayal of the exhilarating, corrupt roots of Korea. Overall, although disappointed by the various regretful aspects, Gangnam 1970 gave me a good overview of Korean history and allowed me to see new sides to some of the actors.