The assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 has received a lot of cinematic attention in South Korea recently, as if floodgates had been opened. Several years ago there was The Man Who Stood Next, which thoroughly probed the background of the killing, and the end of 2023 saw the box office hit 12.12 The Day, which dealt with the post-assassination coup. A third film, Land of Happiness, opened about a year ago in Korea and mainly focuses on the court martial of one army officer who participated in the assassination. It was shown at last year’s Busan International Film Festival as part of a Special Program dedicated to the films of actor Lee Sun-kyun, who committed suicide some months before the festival. It was Lee’s last movie, and while he does play the soldier in question, he’s not the star, which is Cho Jung-seok, the actor who plays his lawyer. It’s quite a workout, in fact, and given Lee’s typically subdued acting demeanor, it surely overshadowed the late actor’s performance. As for the film, it’s well made and jerks sufficient tears, but the story has been over-fictionalized just for that purpose. More interesting is the casting of Yoo Jae-myung as General Chun Do-hwan, the man who led the coup explicated in 12.12, and as in 12.12 the producers decided to change his name, though everybody knows who he’s supposed to be. In that movie he was played by Hwang Jung-min as a mad villain, whereas Yoo sees him as a slick mafia kingpin whose evil is more sedate and cunning. It’s quite a contrast, and only proves how much the Korean film industry is willing to manipulate history in accordance with its aims.

Lee plays Col. Park Tae-joo as someone who was understandably reluctant to take part in the assassination, as shown in numerous patchy flashbacks that cover the incident. He was arrested and eventually executed for treason, and much of the film covers the trial, which was a court martial since Lee was still an active soldier at the time, even though on the day of the murder he was working for the KCIA, whose chief plotted the killing. Consequently, many people, including the hot shot ambulance chaser, Jeong In-hoo (Cho), thinks the trial should be a public one, but that would make it more difficult for future strongman Chun to manipulate the proceedings. It’s obvious from Choo Chang-min’s expressionistic direction that the military tribunal is as corrupt as a Trump land deal, and most of the intrigue involves Jeong finding legal ways to get around the judges’ pronouncements. As a result, the plot has a furtive, incoherent quality, what with all the jurisprudential eureka moments followed by dramatic deflations. Korean audiences know the fate of Col. Park, who doesn’t do much to defend himself, having resolved to accept whatever punishment he receives because he’s a military man of principle. This nature drives the wily Jeong crazy, because he can’t convince him to stand up for himself. The conflict is compelling on paper but renders Lee’s last performance even more enervated that it usually is. You shrug at his compliance.

As already mentioned, much of the story has been contrived for maximum effect, but the transparency of that contrivance has the opposite effect: What can you do about the past, especially when everyone is over-acting? 

In Korean. Now playing in Tokyo at Shinjuku Musashinokan (03-3354-5670), Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho (03-6259-8608), Yebisu Garden Cinema (0570-783-715).

Land of Happiness home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2024 Next Entertainment World & Papas Film & Oscar10 Studio