26 Years (2012)

Great movie. For a fictional event, this had all the heart pounding agony of seemingly real events. Extremely well written and directed. Terrific acting by all involved. Bae Soo Bin has always delivered as has Jin Goo. Both are actors I really admire. Im Seul Ong's first performance was truly a foreshadowing of his potential. Given who the cast was originally selected to be, I can't but be happy for the delay in filming. These actors were perfect in their roles. There isn't an unnecessary character in this movie. I was spellbound to the very end. I HIGHLY recommend this movie for the historical value, but if you are an action film buff you will love it. It's an edge of your seat ride all through it. The brilliant and remarkable use of animation at the beginning of this film to depict the brutal and horrific events of the massacre were actually, to me, more graphic and effective at realizing just how monstrous this event was. Even sadder is the fact that this happened in 1980, only 34 years ago. So this event is a living and painful memory for every adult citizen of Korea.

Also remarkable, but unsurprising, is the opposition this film received that almost kept it from being filmed. From wiki: In 2008, the film was originally set to be directed by Lee Hae-young based on his own adapted screenplay titled 29 Years, with Ryoo Seung-bum, Kim Ah-joong, Jin Goo, Chun Ho-jin, and Byun Hee-bong cast in the lead roles. But the production came to a halt once investors pulled out from funding the film ten days before filming began because of its controversial politically sensitive content, and rumors were rife that the pressure had originated from the conservative government.

After nearly four years of languishing in pre-production limbo due to financial difficulties, 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. Another investor was television personality Kim Je-dong. The crowdfunding enabled the production to finally begin filming Lee's script with a new cast and director on July 19, 2012. Filming wrapped on October 10, 2012. The film's ending credits roll for more than 10 minutes, as they include all 15,000 donors' names.

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This movie will leave you with many emotions, I litteraly don't know what to write about how I feel..

The story is partly fictional, but we all (even me as an European) know what happened on May 18th. They portray the story in a unique way to start the movie and I appreciate it!!
The acting is superb. I cried, got angry and felt so sad. The actors really moved me, I felt their pain and I could onderstand their actions. Their emotions and actions were so raw. As if the actors really did take part in that day.
This movie has action, suspense, drama and you are going to sit on the edge of your seat. It will leave you with many thoughts and emotions.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know (a little bit) of the history of may 18 (watch the movie May 18 for more information I also highly recommend this movie). I acctualy think everyone should watch this because it isn't a waste of time and the acting in this movie is so incredible and marvelous!

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