THE COAST GUARD

Directed & Written by Kim Ki-Duk
Produced by Lee Seung-Jae
Cinematography by Baek Dong-hyeon
Cast: Jang Dong-Kun, Kim Jeong-hak, Park Ji-a, Yu Hye-jin, Jeong Jin & Kim Gu-taek

2002/94 mins/Color/DTS
1.66:1 anamorphic/Korean/Korea/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Tartan US DVD

For Private Kang Han-cheol (Jang Dong-Kun), there is nothing that would be more rewarding for him and his country then killing a North Korean spy. Along with a bunch of young soldiers, he stands guard at the border between the South and North Korean. One night, Kang sees two people crossing the border lines and shoot them. He soon discover that he actually killed a drunk civilian who was having sex with a local girl. The next morning, the town villagers are furious as Kang receives the top honor from his fellow soldiers. From there, Kang's life goes downhill and we can expect the end to be near...

If you are familiar with Kim Ki-Duk's other movies then you know what will happen in this one. Once again, the director of BAD GUY, SAMARITAIN GIRL and others take look at the hard reality of life, and the downfall of the human entity. The movie is also a condemnation of the military tactics that have separated the country in two many years ago. Its a cry for injustice, peace and trying to set the wrong things right. This is yet another powerful dramatic movie from Kim Ki-Duk, one that we can "enjoy" even though we can't understand all the elements because most of us have never been to Korea.

The movie is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The image looks good but nothing spectacular. Some of the night scenes features a little compression but nothing alarming. We get three Korean audio tracks; 2.0 Dolby Digital, 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS. For this review purpose, i've listened to the DTS track which was clear and delivered the goods. We also get easy to read optional English and Spanish subtitles.

As for the extras, we get an introduction by Kim Ki-Duk talking about his motivation for the movie, there's a very interesting Korean commentary track (with English subtitles available), 'Breaking Down Borders' is another interview with the director that runs 4 minutes. There's also a music video based on the movie, we get two nicely put togethe trailers, a 'Photo Gallery' which consist of a few stills from the movie and trailers for other Tartan release like A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, H, HEROIC DUO and OLD BOY. The movie is separated in 21 chapters, features nicely designed animated morphing menus with music, comes in a keep case with a four pages booklet.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2005. ©

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