12-12, the day, or the ‘Seoul Spring’ in Korean has been released just 15 days earlier, but has been surprisingly successful at attracting a lot of attention from major political sides.
However, the movie is not only being praised for its storyline, but also for the depiction of the tensions between two groups vying for power and purpose.
The story begins in 1979, October 26th, after the assassination of Korea’s longest reigning dictator, Park Jung Hee.Martial law was declared, and former prime minister Choi- Gyu-Hwa (Depicted as Choi-Han-Gyu in this film) is declared president.
Despite the nation appearing to return to normalcy, following the terrible 18 year reign of the dictator Park Jung Hee, the quick collapse of the dictator had left the 4th republic in an unconfirmed future.
Citizens, who were once oppressed by the gestapo-like regime, had finally been free and displayed their ideas freely, to the point where the old authoritarian soldiers who were loyal to Park started to fear for their lives.
As this fear became real, the newly appointed Director of the Defense Security Command, Major General Chun-Doo-Hwan (Chun-Doo-Gwang in the movie) declared full martial law on every county and states(provinces) in Korea.
As expected, the people refuse to accept this, and continue to protest this unlawful act.
Other generals such as general Jang Tae-Wan (Lee Tae Shin in the movie) question their fellow soldiers who were loyal to Park’s regime, and try to prevent them from moving on further with their actions, inciting a conflict within the military.
Aware of this, Chun-Doo-Hwan and the officers who follow him stage a Coup, and the initial moments of the coup appear to be successful .
However, General Jang-Tae Wan, the head of the Capital Defense Command, gathered any military and police units he could and had become a knife facing his coup.
Although Chun seems to be overpowered due to Jang’s desperate attempts to stop the coup and return Korea to democracy, he easily overruns the Capital Defense Command by his trusty network of friends, also known as the Hanahoe.
The defenders are overrun, and the movie concludes with showing the atrocities done by Chun Doo Hwan and his regime.
The film itself is very refreshing, considering that this is the film that was made by famed producer Kim Sung Su, who has been famously known for his many successful movies and the title of being the oldest film producer alive.
The movie was credited for its excellent performance of the actors, its delivery of the classic 1970s vibe, and the historical background which makes the movie more touching to the audience.
In my own opinion as a reporter, 12.12 the day is a magnificent film, which differs from all those ‘historical’ films which sometimes define history and cover incidents that may seem offensive, which makes 12.12 the day a perfect historical film.
Jason Seo
Grade 7
Aju middle school