Oct
13
2007
Boys of Tomorrow
Posted by luna6
Name : Boys of Tomorrow / Woo-ri-e-ge nae-il-eun up-da
Release Date : May 17, 2007
Country : South Korea
Director : Dong-seok No
Starring : Ah-in Yu, Byeong-seok Kim
Runtime : 93 min
Editor Rating : 8.0
Users Rating: 8.06 
(17 votes)
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I didn’t know much about “Boys of Tomorrow” prior to watching the film. I’ve never heard of the director Dong-seok No before or saw his prior film “My Generation”. About the only name I recognized from the cast, was that of Ah-In Yu, who gave a strong performance in “The Shim’s Family (Skeletons in The Closet)”. The movie poster implies a slick South Korean commercial film (don’t they all?), which made me think this could be a gangster film ala “Dirty Carnival” or a crime-comedy caper like “Mokpo Harbor” - that’s not the case.
The film starts off with modest colors (definitely not a big budget chungmoro film), soundtrack features indie pop guitar lines and then an amusing montage of two guys who appear to be brothers. Then, the next scene shows the older brother, Kisoo, dishing out a not so impressive drum solo, hmm… a rock n roll film? Nope, not at all. The film from there gracefully develops into a powerhouse coming of age story - dark at times but compelling throughout.
“Boys of Tomorrow” centers around two brothers, Kisoo and Jongdae. Kisoo is the older of the two and has become somewhat of the surrogate father, even though he is barely able to keep his personal life in order. He lives in a small studio apartment, makes ends meet as a valet taxi driver, while dreaming of becoming a drummer in a rock n roll band. His mother is a religious fanatic, while his father abandoned their home years ago. His younger brother, Jongdae lives with is mom.
There’s also a deadbeat older brother whose searching for his runaway wife. In the process, the deadbeat older brother has left his son, Johan, in Kisoo’s care.
Meanwhile, the youngest brother, Jongdae washes cars as his full time job. He’s somewhat of an oddball as he still carries the psychological scars of a traumatic childhood accident. When, Jongdae was a child, his older brother Kisoo kicked him in the groin to prevent him from seeing their mom in a compromising position. The kick resulted in Jongdae losing one of his testicles permanently.
Now that the two brothers are on the doorsteps of adulthood, they start to live separate lives. Kisoo tries to fulfill his musical dreams while Jongdae finds a job in a brothel as a waiter/messenger. When their mom learns of Jongdae’s new job, she goes to Kisoo and makes him promise to protect his younger brother. Kisoo is then forced into upholding that promise.
If inclined to do so, you can easily harp on the few weak points of the film and miss the forest for the trees. The film haphazardly brings up hot topics like guns and religion but fails to do much with those topics, besides pointing out the obvious - guns can be destructive and religious fanaticism can be harmful. Of course, I’m probably over simplifying what Dong-seok No wanted to say, but that’s how the film came across to me.
As the film progresses, the weaker elements of the film then gives way to one heck of a story. The focus of the film seems to shift to Jongdae and the tone becomes darker. Yu Ah-in, who played Jongdae, recently won the “best new actor” prize at the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival and deservedly so. He gives a wonderful performance - subtle but eye catching - and when taken in context with his stellar performance in “the Shim’s Family” he certainly could be considered one of the brightest young stars in Korea.
Cinematography was also top notch, with unassuming colors that brought to the foreground the thoughtful visual compositions in the film. A handful of images stayed in my mind after the movie finished. One would have been the shot of the older brother, Kisoo, in the studio with a guitar, with the camera focused solely on his black Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars and the vintage guitar amp he sat on. He then starts to play a clumsy rendition of David Bowie/Nirvana’s “The Man Who Sold the World”. An unexpected moment that foreshadowed perfectly what would transpire in the final moments of the film. The other scene that wouldn’t leave my mind, would have been the scene with Jongdae listening against a wall, as screams came from the other room in the brothel. An absolutely heart wrenching moment.
In retrospect “Boys of Tomorrow” is a bleak coming of age story that ends with a glimmer of hope. The film brings up a few sub-topics that are not fleshed out well, but that’s easily forgiven as the story of the two brothers becomes more engrossing with each passing moment. One of the better films I have seen this year.
buy Boys of Tomorrow from YesAsia
Cast:
Ah-in Yu - Jongdae
Byeong-seok Kim - Kisoo
Jae-Sung Choi - Mr. Kim
Dong-ho Lee - Yo-han
Chungi Kim - Bum-sang
If you like this film you may enjoy : Ad-Lib Night, Take Care of My Cat
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2007 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movie Reviews |