“12.12: THE DAY”, the box office champion in South Korea in 2023 and the highest-attended movie last year, is adapted from the most thrilling and important historical turning point in the modern history of South Korea. This period of history is sad to say, describing the success of the “Double Twelve Coup” instigated by Chun Doo-hwan, which directly threw the long-awaited democratic expectations of the South Korean people into hell.
South Korea has not forgotten its history, and the villain Chun Doo Hwan is hateful
In fact, after Chun Doo-hwan came to power, he also forced the president into the palace, implemented military dictatorship, and suppressed democratic movements, including the violent suppression of the May 18 Gwangju democratization movement, which resulted in a large number of casualties among students and civilians. These incidents were also filmed in “Reverse” Movies such as “The Great Power” and “The Driver Against Power”. Even though South Korea is now conquering the world with its idol culture, the success of “The Big Brother”, “The Driver” and “12.12: Seoul Spring” shows that they have not forgotten the past. This is what director Kim Sung-soo strives to achieve. The reason why “12.12: Seoul Spring” is brought to the audience.
The film is adapted from the military coup that took place in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, on December 12, 1979. The then South Korean President Park Chung-hee was assassinated. Quan Dou-kwang, the security commander and head of the Joint Investigation Headquarters on the Presidential Assassination, wanted to take advantage of the chaos to seize power, but his ambitions He was restrained by his superior, Army Chief of Staff Jung Sang-ho. Quan Douguang then mobilized the rebel “Yishinhui” (also known as the New Military Headquarters) to kidnap Zheng Xianghao. Facing the rebels headed by Quan Douguang, the steadfast capital security commander Lee Tae-chen led the suppression army and vowed to defend the country and fight the rebels to the death. In the cold winter of Seoul, the military rebellion lasted for 9 hours, and the two major forces officially faced off on the streets of Seoul.
“12.12: Spring in Seoul” refers to the memoirs of two important figures who fought against Chun Doo-hwan: Chief of Army Staff Chung Seung-hwa and Commander of the Capital Security Command Jang Tae-ho, “Night of the General: Korea’s Double 12 Incident” and “12.12 Zhang Taiyi’s Notes: The 10 Hours of the Failed Counter-Coup”, so the audience is naturally inclined to support the two.
Director Kim Sung-soo realistically created Chun Doo-kwang as the villain, which also reflected his inner hatred for the power grabber. “12.12: Seoul Spring” is by no means a neutral historical image archive, but because of its clear black and white stance, it allows the audience to project their emotions and hope that the faction of Jung Sang-ho and Lee Tae-shin will win at every moment. But the movie tells us that reality is often because of a slight difference: one wrong person or one wrong decision can change everything.
Two Green Dragons compete for best actor, Huang Jinmin and Zheng Yusheng face off between good and evil
The cast of “12.12: Seoul Spring” is very luxurious. In addition to the two Blue Dragon best actors Hwang Jin-min and Jung Woo-sung, there are also Lee Sung-min, Park Hae-joon, Kim Sung-kyun, Jung Dong-hwan, Kim Eui-sung, and even guest appearances by Jung Hae-in, Lee Joon-hyuk, and Ahn Sung-ki. Since the movie has changed some historical facts, the characters in the film do not use the real names of historical figures, but from their appearance and names, it is easy to understand the historical figures they play.
The movie opens with Jung Sang-ho (prototype: Jung Seung-hwa), played by Lee Sung-min, being kidnapped by Chun Doo-kwang (prototype: Chun Doo-hwan), played by Hwang Jin-min. In one scene, the two confront each other head-on. Huang Jinmin secretly planned to capture him, but Li Xingmin failed to notice his ambition. Quan Douguang, a soldier with a gangster personality, could not restrain his ambition and made the audience hate him to the bone. Huang Jinmin has always been full of righteousness and has a very stylish appearance, but this time he changed into a bald image to fit the role. Even his movements and body movements have become like a rough soldier. At first glance, you can’t tell that he is a soldier. Huang Jinmin. In the play, he is cunning, domineering, completely out of touch with his own temperament, and his performance is convincing.
Another one that must be mentioned is of course Zheng Yusheng, who plays Li Taichen (original: Zhang Taiyi), the commander with the most sense of justice and the most determined to stop Quan Douguang in the whole drama. On the one hand, he has to mobilize various armies to stop Quan Douguang, and on the other hand, he has to withstand the pressure. He is the most interesting character in the whole drama. A scene involving a tearful phone call asking for help was heart-wrenching. The movie is about creating a duel between good and evil between Li Taichen and Quan Douguang, one black and one white, with a final meeting and a shout-out between the two parties, which fully reveals their personalities and old and new grudges. Shaping and making the drama full of tension makes it particularly exciting.
The relationship between the characters is complex and fast-paced, and the audience has to work hard to understand it.
“12.12: Spring in Seoul” turns a one-night coup event into a movie. The advantage is of course that the pace is fast and lively, but the disadvantage is that the audience needs to spend a lot of effort to understand. Because as a Hong Kong audience, I am certainly not as familiar with Korean history as the locals. It is naturally more difficult to understand the plot and the relationship between the characters. In addition, there are so many characters appearing in the movie, it is not easy to sort out and invest at the same time. Although the director has added text and images to describe it to help with understanding, the author still recommends that viewers “do their homework” before watching. A general understanding of the historical background will help them digest the game.
The running time of “12.12: Seoul Spring” is 2 hours and 21 minutes, but except for the literary drama at the beginning, there is no boring scene afterwards. It is very shocking and compelling, and director Kim Sung-soo deserves a lot of credit. Coupled with the wonderful performances of the two movie kings and many actors, the audience can appreciate the appeal of the movie. “12.12: Spring in Seoul” is now available on Now TV’s “popcorn on-demand service”. You can watch it at home and feel the power of South Korea’s top-grossing movie last year.
Written by: He De
Tags: Spring Seoul recreates shocking hours modern Korean history shocking compelling boring
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