The Age Of Shadows

This review may contain spoilers!

If you don't focus on your characters then the audience won't commit to your story, especially if that story is over two hours long. I would give The Age Of Shadows a 4/10.

This film deals well in suspense, creating scenes where you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see if the protagonists are going to be captured by the Japanese. Beyond these moments of suspense the other great aspect of the plot is when the espionage gives way to violent and desperate shoot-outs; the action is almost suffocating in how close and personal it gets. The cinematography really highlights the film's beautiful sets, extreme wides and tracking shots make you feel immersed in the landscape of the film. The score is matched to the espionage themes really well, the low bass notes only serves to heighten the suspense.

Gong Yoo, who played Kim Woo-Jin, makes for a very calm and reserved resistance fighter; his strategic ever-changing personas makes him an intrigue to watch. Um Tae-Goo, who played Hashimoto, was a wild antagonist; Tae-Goo made for an unpredictable and extremely hostile enemy to the protagonists of the feature. Shingo Tsurumi, who played Higashi, was an interesting bureaucratic antagonist; his two-faced nature made him shifty and in a way almost nastier than Tae-Goo. Park Hee-Soon, who played Kim Jang-Ok, really kicked this film off well; his desperate fight for survival really set the tone for the rest of the feature.

However the best performance came from Song Kang-Ho, who played Lee Jung-Chool. Made for quite an interesting and unique lead, most notably for his very flippant role. Throughout the entire feature what is essentially development from servant to revolutionary is disguised by making you distrust the character's ultimate loyalty. Kang-Ho's tired and disgruntled figure plays both sides and never really betrays exactly where he will end up. The high points of this performance are the moments of extreme emotion that Kang-Ho portrays; torturing Ji-Min's role is one harrowing scene, crying over her corpse is another and one of my favourites is his smug toast to Tsurumi right before the bomb he has set explodes.

The problem this film has is that the characters who are Japanese are treated as an overall faction, just as those in the resistance are; individual characters aren't ever really given any focus or insight into which makes it hard to connect to these characters. Because you're not invested in the individuals of the film what results is a slow paced feature discussing the politics of a Japanese occupied Korea. The editing was also horrendous, the transitions in particular; the fast cross-fades and dissolves were almost painful to watch and had a negative effect on the film's visual style and already horrible pacing.

Han Ji-Min, who played Yun Gye-Soon, was really only here to motivate some of the leading protagonist's man pain; Ji-Min was never given much to do in the feature and even had to work with the rather awful Burden. Shin Sung-Rok, who played Jo Hwe-Ryung, really had no screen presence in this film; his reveal as the traitor within the resistance wasn't a big twist or even a particularly memorable moment of the film. Seo Young-Joo, who played Joo Dong-Sung, was quite a pathetic minor role; his only function was to progress the plot and he didn't serve as a functioning character in any other capacity. Lee Byung-Hun, who played Jung Chae-Sun, had a lot of potential but no real substance; Byung-Hun is a great performer but couldn't provide any depth to this two-dimensional character. Choi Yu-Hwa, who played Kim Sa-Hee, really didn't stand out at all; her role as a police secretary didn't have much function in terms of the greater plot. Foster Burden, who played Ludvik, is honestly the wrost performer of the film; his line delivery is deadpan and clearly reveals that he isn't suited for a main role in any feature film.