4.5 min. read
Korean cinema is wild AF.
1997 coming-of-age crime thriller, Beat, is one of my prouder viewing experiences of the last twenty years. It was a blind buy from a Korean bookstore near Herald Square at the time, and it would inevitably put director Kim Sung-su, and actor Jung Woo-sung squarely on my radar for years to come.
The two have worked together several more times since then, a pattern that continued earnestly with 12.12: The Day, which opened for South Korean audiences last Fall. The film is also available on digital in the U.S. from 815 Pictures, and also served as a Prime Pick presentation for its audience at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival.
Kicking things off is an emergency bunker meeting with top officials following the assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee, who served 18 years in office before his death. With Choi Han-kyu (Jeong Dong-Hwan) officiated as acting President amid the chaos, commander Jung Sang-ho (Lee Sung-Min) is appointed martial law commander, with Chun Doo-gwang (Hwang Jung-min) assigned to head the joint investigation into Park’s death.
Chun’s reputation is a whole ‘nother shit show among colleagues, however. His penchant for self-serving career opportunism and demeanor aside, his investigating methods come under fire when officials learn that the suspects being questioned have nothing to do with the assassination.
In addition, Chun’s dissent and scheming grows even more when he learns that Commander Lee Tae-shin (Jung Woo-sung) is appointed Capital Garrison Commander. At the behest of director Jung, it’s a position he reluctantly accepts, affirming his next hires while Chun commences the secret enlistment of his own internal forces, the Hanahoe.
Indeed, the era of peace that was supposed to come with President Kim in office never came to fruition, as the government succumbed to a point of uncertainty left in the power vaccum that gave people like Chun the momentum he needed to begin affirming his cabinet and plans in order to become dictator himself, and seize power. In 12.12: The Day, this is exactly what happens, with Chun orchestrating an intricate web of political and militant skullduggery and betrayal, using the martial law director as a lynchpin to exploit president Kim for his own purposes.
At 140 minutes for its runtime, 12.12: The Day crackles with intense, real-time fervor as we follow Chun’s assault on democracy, and Garrison Commander Lee’s dauntless quest to take control of the situation, even as other soldiers, and a number of commanders and generals either underestimate the situation, or completely cave to Chun’s influence. Chun’s audacious coup d’état also sees the kidnapping and illegal arrest the martial law director in connection with President Park’s death, in hopes of crippling Lee’s beleagured counterassault.
Bridges become battlefields between men and tanks, and night time gun battles ensue while armed soldiers find themselves either detained or downed in a hail of gunfire with their fellow men, indicative of a government eating itself from within, nevermind the concerns of an invasion from the North. For the unknowing, it is a story that brims with sparks of hope in between that Chun will be brought to jusice and his reign of tenuous insurrectionist rule will be over – something that makes 12.12: The Day both equally gripping and essential in its storied execution.
This film’s quiet release in the States isn’t something I’ll ever understand. It’s not the first niche release to get overlooked, but I have my own suspicions about why some films don’t get the full-bore marketing that others do. With that said, director Kim delivers a rare cinematic venture into a corner of history most Westerners like myself are ignorant of, and to his credit, with a movie that could not have come at a better time. Take it from someone who lived through January 6, 2021, and only learned about the 1948 Nakba just this year. Someone like Chun is precisely the kind of historic figure that needs to be talked about in history classes, especially with the topical prevalence of urgent liberation in response to the perturbing rise of fascism and white supremacy in the mainstream.
Yeah, I know what some of you might be thinking in reading a review about a political thriller where the critic’s response ends up segueing to real-world analysis. Well, what can I say? They say art imitates life, and rest assured, 12.12: The Day is Kim’s mimesis like a motherfucker. It’s up to us to do better, and that requires opening our eyes to the dangers that await in the history that our teachers and mentors have so warned us about repeating.
12.12: The Day was reviewed for the 23rd New York Asian Film Festival which runs from July 12 through 28.
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