“Harbin” Theatrical Poster
Director: Woo Min-Ho
Cast: Hyun-Bin, Park Jeong-Min, Jo Woo-Jin, Jeon Yeo-Bin, Lee Dong-Wook, Park Hoon, Yoo Jae-Myung, Lily Franky, Kim Ji-Oh, Lee Tae-Hyeong, Ahn Se-Ho
Running Time: 114 min.
By Paul Bramhall
There’s been no shortage of action tinged spy thrillers set during Japan’s colonisation of Korea in the early 20th century, with productions like Assassination, The Age of Shadows, and Phantom being superlative examples of the genre, but few have been based on a true story. With 2024’s Harbin director Woo Min-ho looks to change that, opting to tell the story of An Jung-geun, a Korean independence activist who, at age 30 in the October of 1909, assassinated Japanese politician Ito Hirobumi upon his arrival at Harbin station. Hirobumi had been meeting with his Russian counterparts to discuss who should control Korea, and became a key figure in driving the annexation of the country to fall under Japanese rule. Jung-geun’s actions see him remembered as a martyr for independence in his home country (both in the South and the North), a fact which has seen his story adapted for the screen several times over the years.
The first time was in 1946 with The Chronicle of An Jung-geun, and in 1959 there was King Gojong and Martyr An Jung-geun, which was followed by An Jung-geun, the Patriot in 1972. While the remainder of the 20th century took a break from re-telling his story, in the 21st century he’d return in 2004’s Thomas An Jung-geun (in which he was played by Yu Oh-seong Continue reading →
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