Format: PAL, Anamorphic, Widescreen, Subtitled
Audio: Korean 5.1 / Korean 2.0
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of Discs: 2
Classification: 15
Distribution: Cine-Asia
Run Time: 116 minutes (approx.)
Special Features: Audio Commentary by Bey Logan & Mike Leeder / Trailer Gallery / Men of Valour, Personal reflections on The Korean War (Cine Asia World Exclusive) / INTO THE FIRE – Making of Documentary / Behind the Scenes / Pre-Production / Production Design / Student Soldier Trainees from the Korean War / Poster – Making of / Premiere and Press Interview / Cine-Asia Showcase
Review
For its part, Cine-Asia (D.V.D. distributor of the Showbox Media Group) have turned out a handsome two-disc edition here. No artwork arrived with the review disc, but the menu design seems consistent with the advertising in Korea, and navigation isn’t hampered at all by the characteristically jittery effects worked into the menu architecture (a tremor rocks the toolbar whenever there’s an offscreen explosion). Thankfully, Pohang survivors Kim Man-gyu and Son Joo-hyung, whose personal testimonies are only barely glimpsed over the film’s credits, are given a voice in the voxpop interview, “Student Soldier Trainees From the Korean War” (conducted in the grounds of the real Pohang middle school no less). It’s fascinating to hear both Kim’s reasons for volunteering (he was just 17) and his memory of the familial conflict this inevitably provoked (the film avoids any such moral equivocation), but alas the interview is a short affair, and lacking their detailed input in a studious documentary format it’s difficult to get an idea of how the siege may have played out that day. The Cine-Asia special production, “Men of Valour, Personal Reflections on the Korean War,” is an affectionate portmanteau short of unusual interest, presenting the accounts of five servicemen who joined the war effort: Byong Yu, Chang Young Won, Solomon J. Jamerson, Andrew Beavers, and Seiji Koshimizu. The subtitles are fine (and in some featurettes even a bit sneaky).
By comparison, the conventional point-and-shoot featurettes (“Into the Fire Making of Documentary,” “Behind the Scenes,” “Pre-Production,” and “Production Design”) provide less insight and character than most audiences deserve. For fine arts people like myself the “Poster Making of” capsule looks intriguing on paper, but the featurette begins and ends with the on-set publicity shoot (you won’t see what third-party designers do with those images, for instance, once they’ve been outsourced). Meanwhile, H.K. cinema expert Bey Logan and H.K.-based film producer Mike Leeder’s commentary intersperses personal anecdotes with production not and your usual ho-hum drippy platitudes, the kind of extra for existent fans only.
Links: New Korean Cinema Review of 71 – Into The Fire
