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 For
a filmmaker who’s been heralded as the future of South Korean cinema,
director Ryoo Seung-wan has spent a lot of time thinking about the
past. Ryoo’s much-anticipated follow-up to his 2015 hit crime story,
VETERAN, was 2017‘s BATTLESHIP ISLAND, a cinematic battle against
Korea’s Japanese occupation, based on actual World War II events. With
his latest entry, Ryoo once again turns his eye to a moment of history
perhaps missed by most of the world. ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU is a dynamic
depiction of a real-life 1991 incident, when two groups of diplomats,
from both North and South Korea, became trapped at the heart of one of
the bloodiest revolutions of the modern age. Suspicious and resentful
of each other, the two adversarial nations and must put aside their
ambitions and prejudices to try to flee the violent outbreak of the
Somali Civil War.
In our
current age, South Korea’s prevalence in global pop culture has seen the
world watching KPop icons, BTS, not only address a speech to the United
Nations, but dance and sing in a music video recorded in Assembly Hall.
It’s difficult to believe that just thirty years prior, the Republic of
Korea wasn’t even a fully-fledged United Nations member. It desperately
wanted to be; so, to that end, through the late 1980s and early 1990s,
the ROK tried very hard to lobby UN member nations with high amounts of
votes to support their application.
This
is where we meet South Korea’s Ambassador Han and his beleaguered staff,
tearing through the streets of the capital of Somalia, attempting to bri…
er, persuade its president with some gifts from back home. Sadly,
luck is not on the side of the tardy, motley, perspiring team, and they
can only watch as their narrowly-missed appointment with the president
is turned into a clear lane for Ambassador Rim from North Korea, and his
impressive, professional staff.
The
contention between the two adversaries, who were one country and people
just a generation before splitting into two entirely different enemy
nations in a constant war, rises and metastasises as the window for the
UN application draws to a close. Both North and South Korea shamelessly
employ dirty, potentially deadly, tricks to push their own agendas a
little further, which adds more fuel to their worst perceptions about
each other. As the desperation grows, so do the demands of the corrupt
Somalian government, unsubtly requesting straight-up pay for play,
putting Han in an even more unworkable situation. While South Korea was
beginning miraculous economic growth in 1991, it’s not like they had a
slush fund for greedy African dictators.
Neither, apparently, did the Somali populace. In the midst of the
two Koreas’ finagling and backstabbing, civic unrest against their
crooked leaders explodes all around Mogadishu with wave after wave of
bloody attacks by anti-government rebels, answered with severe reprisals
by the militarised police force.
At the
mercy of whichever faction holds the streets, the Korean visitors find
themselves increasingly endangered. While purely transactional, the
diplomats’ attempted wooing of the government puts them in the
crosshairs of the rebel faction, who see them as allies to corruption,
and their enemy.
Almost
immediately, chaos rules, and the diplomats are cut off from gas, water,
electricity and the ability to reach out for help or any homeland
support, as gangs of young toughs loot the embassies and threaten the
lives of those inside.
After
their headquarters is taken over and staff brutalised, the North Korean
diplomats, with families in tow, are forced to show up on the doorstep
of their rivals in the South Korean embassy and beg for shelter. The
question of whether the South will allow their biggest adversaries
inside their gates is a heavy, potentially disastrous consideration for
both sides, and is only decided because of the imminent threat of women
and children being shot down in the street. Even so, Somalian rule is
chipping away fast, and despite their deeply ingrained suspicions and
resentments, the two rival nations must align in unison to flee the
war-torn country.
While
the start of a terrible and ongoing civil war is rife with possibilities
for just the sort of action extravaganza Ryoo Seung-wan is known for,
the director plants the film most deeply in the relationships between
the film’s characters. The somewhat shambolic, workaday, South Korean
embassy is perpetually in catch-up mode compared to the smooth,
disciplined diplomats from the North, and much of the script’s humour
isn’t far off that an office comedy, while more laughs come from the
slapstick spy-vs-spy antics of the rival nations’ intelligence agents;
neither of whom are quite the James Bonds they think they are.
Ryoo
fills the two embassies with all the tropes and stereotypes ingrained in
each nation since their separation in 1953 (Poisonings! Specially
trained spy babies! Indoctrination via cuddly Olympics mascot doll!),
only to have their forced proximity under lethal circumstances be the
impetus to warmly tear down those prejudices, or adding depth and
explanation to actions and behaviours of one side that the other might
previously not have understood. Though the main events happen within a
day or so, there is a sense of loss that each side was just beginning to
understand the other when the sides must ultimately -- coldly --
separate.
These
scenes of the human interactions between the North and South Koreans and
the Somalis are fleshed in perfectly by ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU’s sterling
ensemble cast. Notably, there is the legendary Kim Yoon-seok (THE
CHASER, THE YELLOW SEA, 1987) as Ambassador Han, Zo In-sung (Star
of {to me} the greatest Korean movie ever made, A FROZEN FLOWER)
as the South’s intelligence officer Kang, and the excellent veteran
thesp, Heo Joon-ho {SILMIDO}, bringing an unexpected grace,
dignity, and vulnerability to the North Korean Ambassador Rim. There is
also the luminous Kim So-jin (THE KING, ANOTHER CHILD), portraying
delicate strength and quick-witted practicality as Ambassador Han’s
wife. The chemistry between the veteran leads and the entire supporting
cast ticks together like a well-oiled machine, and it’s a seamlessness
that shines through a film when the actors are all playing at the same
level. However, the plum in the movie’s Christmas pudding is actor
Koo Kyo-hwan as the North’s intel man, Tae.
Ryoo
Seung-wan has a marvellous prescience to introduce us to the actors
we’ll be obsessed with tomorrow. Starting with his own sibling, Ryoo
Seung-beom, his wingman from his feature debut, DIE BAD, who reached his
zenith in THE UNJUST and THE BERLIN FILE. Yoo Ah-in had cut his teeth
on TV dramas and youthful roles before Ryoo sharpened the intensity
beneath the actor’s surface into the sociopathic shiv that was VETERAN’s
unforgettable chaebol villain. Koo Kyo-hwan is not new to cinema as an
actor or filmmaker. Koo’s roles in edgier, avant-garde fare, like JANE,
and MAGGIE, have shown a compelling, chameleon-like screen quality that
has raised his profile in the past few years. He’s appeared as the
terrifyingly unpredictable antagonist in the TRAIN TO BUSAN follow-up,
PENINSULA, and in hit Netflix dramas, ASHIN: KINGDOM OF THE NORTH, and
DP (Directed by our friend, Han Junhee). Unpredictable is a
good word for Koo’s acting style, because watching his scenes in any
project, you never know which way he’s going to jump. A perfectly
mundane sequence becomes charged with electricity because of Koo’s
seemingly effortless ability to twist or add a nuance in a way the
audience wouldn’t expect. While his role in ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU is
not front and center, the seething tension Koo adds to the proud,
protective North Korean intelligence officer, Tae, demands the
audience’s eye. Tae is like a firework ready to blow at any second, and
it’s great fun to watch the perpetual clash of North and South between
him and his cocky South Korean rival, Kang. Tae’s hair-trigger temper
gives moments with his boss, the Buddha-like Ambassador Rim, a touching,
almost paternal quality that shows his position is more than just a job.
Character explorations aside, of course, a Ryoo Seung-wan film equals
action: As the revolution kicks off, there are harrowing scenes of
carnage in the streets, as Somalian turns against Somalian, including
the hunting of the South Korean embassy’s trusted driver. We learn how
distinctly out of control of the situation the foreigners are, as North
Korea’s embassy is invaded and looted, and intelligence officer, Tae, is
brutally beaten by the gang of thugs he used to employ. As also
expected of a Ryoo film, there is a one-on-one fight between Kang and
Tae working out some long-simmering resentments at an oddly placed
moment.
Early
on, Ryoo presents the oppressive heat and long, dusty, sun-cracked
roadways that twine snakelike through the crowded capital, between
fortress-like government palaces, and low, single-story shanties, before
winding to the Mogadishu outskirts, where the sanctuary of the South
Korean-allied Italian embassy sits. As the danger grows, so do calls
for foreign nationals to leave the country, and the Koreans combine
their resources in the interest of mutual survival. Their unanimous
refusal to stay and wait for sure death results in their plan to create
a convoy out of their collective rustbuckets, and carefully head out to
the foreign embassy during the ceasefire of the city’s afternoon
prayers.
From
the sight of the staff, their families, including the smallest children,
filling up sandbags, taping every book in the embassy on the inside and
outside of each vehicle as an attempt at fortification, this escape
takes a different urgency. These aren’t the cold-blooded killers,
hardened cops, or spies who usually roam Ryoo Seung-wan’s movies; these
are overworked salarymen, and their wives, and their small kids, and
some young staffers. Each had left a country locked in a 40-year
civil war, to be thrown into another, nascent, horrifically violent
civil war in a foreign country, where their only allies or familiar
faces are those “enemies” from the other side of the DMZ. There is a
deeper, more personal connection to the risk the characters face,
because they are so ordinary. Having wisely spent time investing in the
film's human relationships, Director Ryoo intensifies the audiences’
reaction to the nightmare they’re plunged into.
Cinematically, Ryoo puts the audience right alongside the characters as
the biggest set piece begins. He moves us into the four cars in the
caravan, and along with the characters, we jump the moment the muezzin’s
call to prayer acts as the starting pistol for their imperiled escape.
We see the paradox of the outside world, now silent and peaceful, as
citizens who were wildly shooting guns at each other moments ago, are
all on the sidewalks, kneeling side-by-side.
As
prayers wind down, and people begin to rise and rearm, noticing the
odd-looking convoy with doors, books, and shingles-turned-armour
spilling off, there is a sense of tangible panic as the audience
internally yells for the caravan to go faster, but the cars can’t go
more than a few feet without rolling over a dead body. The ragtag
band makes it to a police checkpoint, when a simple mistake results in
complete pandemonium. Under a fusillade of police ammunition, the
convoy must now retreat back where they came from, in full-speed
reverse.
Cinematographer Choi Young-hwan propels us backwards through each of the
four cars like one of the bullets penetrating their windscreens. We
feel the whiplash as the vehicles crash into each other, because they
have no way to communicate, or see thru the small, single uncovered
space in the drivers’ front windows. We fight back a scream at one
mother for not crouching low enough in the back seat with her little
son, as police give chase with machine guns. The caravan’s return past
their now-abandoned embassy throws them from pillar to post, with
looters pitching Molotov cocktails through the bullet-shattered windows,
the police still shooting from the rear, and one particularly aggressive
hitchhiker who won’t take no for an answer. Besieged on all sides, the
Korean contingent has no choice but to break through and reach the
sanctuary of the Italian embassy, or face destruction.
It’s
incredibly heart-pounding stuff. Director Ryoo’s relative restraint in
focusing more on the human drama playing out between the two rival
nations, as the world around them burns, equates to pouring all his
action goodies into this climax, and it’s a great payoff. The textural
rawness of the locations (The role of Somalia was played by Morocco),
combined with the insanity of the “you were there” cinematography, and
neck-snapping editing, is a new height for Ryoo. Sadly, I was only able
to view this at home, as opposed to in a cinema, but I was still left
breathless and exhausted. It might be sour grapes, but I wonder if I
wouldn’t have been overwhelmed seeing it on a huge screen? It’s
blinding in the best way.
One is
perfectly justified to equate Ryoo Seung-wan with fun, innovative action
pieces, but with ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU, he is becoming much more. His
directs his powerful ensemble of actors like a conductor before an
orchestra, knowing when to give a little more to one character or
another. He remembers to add his signature, off-hand humour throughout.
He does overwork sentiment a bit toward the end, which felt like a
tepid shower after the blazing action sequence, with a few awkward
moments where it seemed like he didn’t quite know how to connect one
burst of excitement to another, which is a muddle in other Ryoo films,
as well. I think most viewers will be too tired to notice after
everything else has been so satisfying.
Those
points aside, in his second foray filming around the globe, ESCAPE FROM
MOGADISHU makes the most of its stellar cast, stunning locations, and of
course, the level of breathtaking action we’ve come to expect from
director Ryoo Seung-wan – which he surpasses with this film – to give us
a story filled with heart, humour and hope.
ESCAPE
FROM MOGADISHU denotes a new maturity and progression in Ryoo
Seung-wan’s work, and I can’t wait to see where he goes next.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
Dec. 8th
2021
Click Here to Read
Our Exclusive Interview with ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU Director
RYOO SEUNG-WAN
COMING SOON:
Our Interview with Star KIM YOON-SEOK
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