As we have mentioned in our specific list, the Gwangju Massacre was one of the most horrendous events in contemporary Korean history, and the local movie industry could not avoid dealing extensively with the topic. Apart from filmmakers, however, a number of other artists have also dealt with the events, and Kang Full's webtoon is one of the most popular to do so. As such, it was inevitable for the manhwa to be transferred to cinema also, but the first effort in 2008 was met with financial issues, with the production eventually stopping. 4 years later, , online donations poured in from 15,000 individuals amounting to ₩700 million (US$646,000), with singer Lee Seung-hwan contributing another ₩1 billion won (US$923,000), toward the film's ₩4.6 billion (US$4,246,000) production cost. The crowdfunding worked, and “26 years” was finally released in 2012, immediately topping the box office upon its opening.
“26 years” is screening at Florence Korea Film Festival
Starting with a rather brutal animation that highlights the violence of the events in the most impactful manner, the movie then moves years forward, where the kids of the victims who still suffer from severe psychological trauma, come together in an unlikely fashion, in order to carry out a plan to assassinate “that man”, who is clearly representing former President Chun Doo-hwan, who is the one believed to have given the order to shoot at the public. As in the real events, he was convicted in 1996 of crimes related to the Gwangju Massacre, but was later pardoned by President Kim Dae-jung, a decision that really aggravated the public. With that in mind, Kim Gap-se, the chairman of a security company and his son, Kim Joo-ahn manage to recruit three collaborators to carry on the mission. Kwon Jung-hyuk, a newly recruited policeman who is responsible for the cars that have access to the target's house, Kwak Jin-bae, a young gangster from an organized crime group who is a great brawler, and Olympic sharpshooter Shim Mi-jin, who is to carry out the actual assassination. The plan is intricate, but the differences in the personalities of the “agents” quickly become an issue, while a revealed secret also threatens to send the whole project to shambles. Eventually, the members manage to overcome their initial problems, but the execution of the plan proves more difficult than they anticipated.
Ho Geun-hyeon focuses his film in two aspects. The first one is to highlight the direness of the events of Gwangju, the trauma they left, but also how hurt the public was when Chun Doo-hwan was pardoned, and even more so, when he continued to exhibit a largely unapologetic stance. The way the parents of the protagonists react each time his face appears on screen highlights this aspect in the best fashion, as much as the anger the youths themselves carry due to their parent's fate, and the consequences it had on them. The second aspect is the interpersonal relations of the members of the group, whose largely different personalities end up in a lot of friction, even more so when the terrible secret is revealed. That their reasons for getting involved are largely different also adds to this aspect, as Jin-bae and Mi-jin are set on revenge, something that eventually brings them closer together, Jung-hyuk is set on doing the right thing, while Gap-se and Joo-ahn want to atone for the former's crimes. In that fashion, the relationship of the members with their families adds even more to this element, in a manner that also leads to the inevitable melodrama here.
Starting from this point, and despite the fact that the “basis” is that of a political thriller with rich social commentary, the movie turns into a distinct crowd-pleaser after a fashion, with the comedic elements (as in Jin-bae's relationship with his gang), the intense action, and the aforementioned romance and melodrama taking center stage, to the point that the movie is almost constantly on the verge of falling completely off.
Some elements, however, do not allow it to do so. For starters, the production values are top-notch, with Kim Tae-kyung's cinematography being frequently impressive, particularly during the action scenes, and most of all, the quite lengthy finale one, while Hahm Sung-won and Son Yeon-ji's editing implements a rather fast pace, which occasionally slows down in the most welcomed moments, that suits the overall aesthetics nicely. Some lagging does exist, but it is not to a level to fault the movie in any way.
Furthermore, the casting and the way Ho Geun-hyeon “used” his actors is excellent, with Jin Goo as Mad Dog Jin-bae, calm and cool but not really Han Hye-jin as Mi-jin, and the always great Lee Kyung-young as the Chairman, giving the most memorable performances here. Also of note is Jang Gwang, who is excellent in the role of the ‘noble villain', particularly in the way he looks down on everyone around him.
Despite the fact that the story gets overboard on its drama and the way the finale unfolds, “26 Years” remains a very entertaining film that also manages to highlight the trauma of the Gwangju Massacre, even if through excessiveness.
