The Korean war movie ‘The Front Line’ present an interesting mix of characters and focuses on the closing days of the Korean war and impact it has on each of them as the movie progress.

It opens with the talks between both sides, showing that the negotiations aren’t going anywhere, mirroring real life where it took two years of negotiations before a ceasefire treaty was finally agreed on bringing the war to an end and the creation of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that still exist to this day dividing both the North and South.

We’re introduced to main character Lt. Kang Eun-Pyo, a counterintelligence agent of the Defense Security Command, who tires of the drawn-out nature of the war, despite two years of negotiations.

The characters of the movie are fascinating and are by far the strongest aspect of the movie. This is shown best in the interaction between the array of characters in the movie, regardless if they are from the north or south, from North Korean sniper Cha Tae-Kyung (played by Kim Ok-Vin) to the shell-shocked temporary Cmdr. Nam Sung-Sik (played by Lee Da-Wit).

This serves to remind us that they are humans regardless of the side that they are on. This is best demonstrated by the contrast between the two main characters formal students Kim Soo-Hyuk and Kang Eun-Pyo , who were friends before they were separated earlier in the war and how each of them have changed since then.

Kim is no longer a terrified student but a battle-hardened veteran of the battlefield and focuses only on his two goals of keeping the man under his command and himself alive.

This is in contrast to Kang, who despite combat experience finds his time in the rear away from the fighting as a counterintelligence agent has left him soft and unaccostomed to the horrors of the battlefield. However, it also left him with a more humane outlook in regards to the battlefield, despite it horrors.

This contrast between both lead characters is what drives the story, with the back drop of the Korean war in the background, and the inclusion of character that only illustrates that despite the horrors of war, the soldiers who fight are still human and as such not only suffer but also have loved ones and their own hopes and dreams that they look forward to at the end of their fight.

In all, ‘The Front Lines’ is a thought-provoking movie that really makes you care about the characters while at the same getting you to think about war. So if you’re interested in finding out and enjoying the movie, it’s available on Netflix.