“Harbin” (2024) is a historical epic about Korean independence fighters’ plan to assassinate Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi (Lily Franky) after suffering numerous losses on the battlefield against the better equipped Japanese army. The fighters’ suffering has fractured them into several factions. Merciless fighters like Chang Seop Lee (Dong-wook Lee) are willing to mirror the Japanese colonizers’ cruelty back to them even if it means genocide. Unknown spies become moles and side with the Japanese after surviving torture. Then there are those like Jung-geun Ahn (Bin Hyun), who has a vision for the future of an independent Korea that obeys the rule of law, practices his faith through mercy and preserves the memory of his fallen friends through winning and becoming the victor who writes history. Who will determine the future of Korea?
For American audiences, “Harbin” is going to be a heavy lift. It is not made for foreign audiences, but Korean people who are already familiar with this story. Most Americans do not know their own history or world geography so they will be unaware that Harbin is located in China and was in Russian hands in 1909, not South Korea, and will have no idea what is going on as the globe-trotting film moves from Korea through China and ends in Russia. Also some of the characters are fictional, and some are real like Ahn and the Prime Minister. Director and co-writer Min-ho Woo and cowriter Min-Seong Kim do a good job with orienting moviegoers through the dialogue and periodically flashing the location, day, names of characters and their title periodically, but it goes by so fast that people bringing zero knowledge could get lost fairly quickly. Also if you do not get that it is a historical epic expected to follow certain beats, it is easy to consider it a bit monotonous, but imagine how Western historical dramas feel to other people. We skip a lot of character development because the point is to show how an event happened, not necessarily to reflect on human figures though it has seeds of that element. What would motivate a despondent person to persevere and continue fighting?
“Harbin” functions as a propaganda piece, but not in the way that people may expect. It is not a “rah, rah Korea is great” movie. It is not only about a decisive blow against Japan. It is about spilling the least amount of blood to achieve independence in the face of genocide—remember this iteration of Japan would later think that Nazi Germany would be a great ally. It is about the self-control to balance war and the rule of law, which Ahn tried to convey, but was not respected, which explains the final scenes regarding his fate. Korean resistance was seen as a criminal activity, not the act of a sovereign nation defending itself. Some consider Ahn a controversial figure because he assassinated a world leader—some still consider him a terrorist. This movie rehabilitates his image so he is remembered less for killing one person, but resisting the temptation to unleash an orgy of blood and widespread violence. This movie is about vengeance, but not wonton violence, which is a tricky balancing act, thus all the invoking of the dead Korean fighters. The film does begin showing rivers of blood and hacking blows, but in a vacuum without the context that Korean audiences will bring to the theater, it is easy to miss that the battlefield is another day in the office, and the assassination is the counter cultural move. It does not work in the intended way because World War II ultimately ended Japanese colonization, but Koreans consider Ahn a hero so putting forth his better qualities in a film advances that claim. It is about moving away from a cult of death.
The dialogue is not exactly subtle, but it is subtitled, which could be an obstacle. Most Americans do not go to the movies. When they do, it is not usually for a foreign language film so the message could lose something in translation. The Japanese are not the only villains with their penchant for sadism and prioritizing financial prosperity. There is this speech about the common people of Korea versus the blue blood royals being the true beating heart of the nation that can never stop. The propaganda is for a good cause: democracy. With the recent brief but frightening attempt to suspend civil government in South Korea and the people’s staunch refusal to let that happen in the face of military forces, it is not just propaganda. No one is perfect, but South Korea is running laps around most Western nations that roll out the red carpet for fascist regimes.
Even for someone like me who can appreciate the goal and has a bare bones understanding, but a willingness to catch up, “Harbin” was a challenge and not as engrossing as it needed to be. While South Korean movies are often better than American films, this film is weaker in terms of the average dramatic narrative quality. For people who already know the story, it must be more of a fantasy fulfillment to see an often-told story on screen like a Jesus movie. Each scene’s purpose is rigid, and a stronger story would have blended everything, so it was less obviously delineated. The black and white flashbacks were uneven. When they repeated scenes shown only a few minutes before, it was a mistake, but when they offered new information, they were brilliant. For example, when the spy is revealed, that scene is a microcosm of the quotidian suffering that Koreans endured. Like “Gyeongseong Creature,” there is a level of empathy for betrayers because most would be unable to resist in the face of torture.
“Harbin” felt as if it referenced several classics. The dynamic between Ahn and a Japanese officer turned investigator, Tasuo Mori (Hoon Park), felt like Jean Valjean and Javert in “Les Misérables.” Most of the urban settings felt as if they existed in the same world as “Boardwalk Empire.” One scene felt lifted straight from “The Deer Hunter” (1978) treating the war for independence on par with the Vietnam War laying psychological waste in the mind of those that survived it.
Woo is at his best when shooting scenes in nature. The opening shows Ahn crossing the frozen Tumen River, a vast blue surface devoid of life. As it goes on, it almost looks as if he is walking in the sky looking at a city below. Another notable moment is when he focuses on the trees after the bloodiest battle. In contrast to the men crowded, lying on the ground, covered in mud and blood, the trees are perfectly spaced, tranquil and standing. Human beings could learn from nature. One shot in a Manchurian desert is David Lean-esque, but that lesson was more inscrutable other than if you get a chance to film in the desert, you better work.
“Harbin” has a take it or leave it approach. Recently Americans often use war and history to elevate action comedy films like “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (2024), but this film is as serious as a heart attack. There are no mood shifts, comic relief or romance. In South Korea, it is the highest grossing film. It is an evangelical take on nationalism and democracy. Considering many in this country would be more comfortable giving up its sovereignty to places like Russia or South Africa and are not as America First as they claim, it probably will bomb here.
