Red Scarf
Director: Shin Sang-ok
Year: 1964
Rating: 6.0
Country: Korea
"The red scarf is the man of the sky
The man of the sky is the red scarf
Wearing the red scarf around the neck
I fly with the clouds"
This is sort of the Top Gun of Korea. If you want a big fat weepy slice of
patriotism, pride and propaganda, this is the film for you. Made in 1964
but set towards the end of the Korean War, it is about a new group of pilots
that have just passed flight school and attained the Red Scarf that they
all wear. The film goes back and forth between sorties in their Saber jets
and melodrama on the ground. Between bombing the North Koreans and love and
drinking when their mission was over for that day. The next day would bring
a new mission. The sort of film in which all the men have deep masculine
voices that must start from their testicles. Even though made in 1964 after
the combat had stopped, South Korea has always been on a war footing and
so these propaganda films - of which there were many I would guess - still
must have felt relevant. And maybe still do.
It is directed by Shin Sang-ok, one of the more respected directors at the
time and stars his wife, Choi Eun-hie, a huge star. Both of them were later
kidnapped by North Korea - not because he kills hundreds of North Koreans
in this film - but because Kim Jong-Il wanted them to make movies for the
North. That is how respected they were. It is like if Putin kidnapped Spielberg
to make a movie about the Defense of Russia from the Ukrainians. Shin clearly
has the approval and assistance of the Air Force because there is stunning
aerial photography of the jets flying through the clouds and blowing the
hell out of tanks and artillery. I have to admit seeing the North Koreans
getting shot up was not a bad feeling.
We have plenty of films of the American effort in that war; interesting to
see it from the Korean side. War propaganda films from everywhere tend to
be the same - the heroism, the comradery, the romance and heartbreak on the
ground, the rampant patriotism, the sacrifice and the one mission that has
to be carried out. In this case a bridge that the Americans have not been
able to blow up. "The idiots. We can do it" says one squadron leader. Hey,
wait a second - we lost a lot of good men fighting in Korea.
All of that plays out here - Ji-seon (Choi Eun-hie) is the woman who marries
one of the pilots who gets shot down and then begins working in a hostess
bar. Major Na (Shin Yeong-gyun) was the dead pilot's best friend and looks
after her and tells her to stop working in a bar like this, with a big face
slap for emphasis. He introduces her to another pilot (Choi Mu-ryong) and
they fall in love. But that damn bridge has to be taken out. This is up on
YouTube in the Korean Film Archive section. I wish Hong Kong would do the
same. In beautiful color and a fine print.