During the 1970’s, four kids grow up very close. The companions are characteristic opposites- the smart and shy Sang-taek and the goofy clown Joong-ho are the tag alongs, compared to the rough and tumble Dong-su and Jeong-suk. Dong-su, whose father a well known gangster in the area, is the the group leader with Jeong-suk his second in command.

As they enter their maturing years in 80’s and high school, a rift between them emerges as Dong-su and Jeong-suk's troublesome ways begin to lead them down a seedier path in life. For the more timid and socially inept Sang-taek, having friends with muscle helps when it comes to fights and getting set up with girls. It is a fight one day at a movie house, where the four fiends find themselves quarreling with an entire crowd of kids from a rival school that leads to thier parting for a few years.

Cut to a few years later and the college educated Sang-taek and Joong-ho return to find that both former buddies have become even more involved in a life of crime, with Jeong-suk serving time in prison to prove his gangster worthiness and Dong-su a full fledged gang member and drug addict. Sang-taek helps Dong-su get back on his feet, but things take a turn for the worse when Jeong-suk is released from prison. Unwilling to live in Dong-su’s shadow or go legit, Jeong-suk takes up with a rival gang, a more dirty and corrupt group, and soon is at odds with his former friend. Things turn deadly between the two and Sang-taek and Joong-ho may be unable to save their friends from killing each other.

Friend (2001) is an extremely moving and mostly well told tale of growing up, growing apart, but still, despite all the changes, retaining that same basic love for a person. I guess the safest comparison would be to something like As Tears Go By or Mean Streets, though Friend is not as concerned with the gang culture as those two films. But, the shared theme of being unable to help a friend that is spiraling out of control and being lead down a criminal path is there. In this case, it is primarily Sang-taek, the timid youth who prospers in his education, who must watch as Dong-su and Jeong-suk become enemies- enemies who still have fondness for one another, but their priorities lie within their gangster lifestyles.

The film offers up a very convincing portrait of the buddies and great period details, including a soundtrack with 80’s songs like Blondies "Call Me". Even the band that plays at their school, Rainbow, is perfectly 80’s authentic. The friends tell off color tales, goof off, deal with cruel teachers, trying to get girls, and Dong-su and Jeong-suk are constantly sticking up for and defending the weaker Sang-taek and Joong-ho. This latter fact leads to one of the films best sequences the aforementioned fight at a movie theater where they are literally up against and angry mob.

The plotting is nearly split down the middle, with the first half being their more youthful days, childhood and teen years, and the last half being the more mature, early twenties when they begin to distance themselves from one another and Dong-su and Jeong-suk become rivals. It is this last half of the film that features the films most heart wrenching sequences as well as its biggest stumbles. Jeong-suk takes up with the more rough gang leading to friction with Dong-su and he believes Dong-su orders a hit on him when their opposing sides disagree, his mixture of hurt and bloodthirsty anger is note perfect and the sequences very brutal.

Unfortunately this is a case where the film would benefit from an additional 10-20 minutes to flesh out this last half, see more from the fortunate two as their criminal friends begin to draw themselves into a fatal fight. But, from what I know of Korean cinema, distributors frown upon films being over two hours, so since the film clocks in at just under two hours that development isn’t there. And, a final crucial scene, comes off a bit cheesy, with soap opera melodrama and overacting, but the rest of the film is so great this one scene stumble doesn’t harm the overall effect very much.

Director Kwak Kyung-taek based the film on his own youth, with Sang-taek representing himself and appropriately serving as the films narrator. I have to say it ranks pretty well in the pantheon of autobiographical films, and, despite a few narrative rough spots, certainly is one of the better examples of Korean drama.

However, the ultimate test comes when 2 of them (Jeong-Suk and Dong-Su) begin rising through the ranks of the mob, becoming powerful members of rival gangs. Meanwhile, the other two (Jeong-Ho and Sang-Taek) choose a straighter path, going off to school and getting legitimate jobs. It's obvious that Jeong-Suk and Dong-Su are headed for a confrontation, and one is left hoping their past friendship will be enough to save them both, that Jeong-Ho and Sang-Taek can help their troubled chums.

If you want action, "Friend" delivers some incredible action sequences ranging from a high school brawl that finds the 4 taking on a theatre full of classmates to Dong-Su's bloody raid on Jeong-Suk's turf. If you want drama and tragedy, it's there as well, anchored by gripping performances by the 4 lead actors. And there's even humor, especially in the earlier scenes, as the 4 raise get into and bail each other out of all sorts of trouble. Unfortunately, as the movie progresses, we see them begin to reap the fruits of their seemingly innocent hellraising.

Based on director Kyung-Taek Kwak's childhood experiences, "Friend" merges a very slick, stylish drama (special kudos to cinematographer Ki-Seok Hwang) with a very deep, thoughtful storyline. Think of it as the Korean "Goodfellas", and you're getting pretty close. At times, the movie does get a little too bogged down on the gangster side of things. I found myself wondering what Jeong-Ho and Sang-Taek (who serves as the film's narrator) were up to, and if they were faring any better than their criminal friends. Their appearances later in the film are a bit too few and far between, and their characters never really become as fleshed out and developed as the other two.

But that's really a very, very minor quibble. It certainly doesn't diminish the power the film has at the end, and it doesn't spare the viewer from the sorrow of innocence lost. The final conversation between Jeong-Suk and Sang-Taek is especially moving, speaking as childhood friends even as they both know they can never hope to make things right. "Friend" forces you to feel the weight of that sorrow in no uncertain terms, and I found myself quite shaken by the time the credits started rolling.

"Friend" gets my highest recommendation, but just prepare yourself before watching. It will not leave you untouched.

Sang-taek (Tae-Hwa Seo), our narrator, is one of four close friends: Joong-suk (Oh-seong Yu), a mobster’s son, Dong-su (Dong-Kun Jang), an undertaker’s son, and Joong-ho (Un-Taek Jeong). We are first introduced to them as young boys in Junior high school. In typical junior-high fashion, they are awe-stricken by all the latest technology and by women, particularly nude women. Joong-ho entices them all with the VCR that his mom recently brought home from Japan. The other three boys don’t believe him – how can television be recorded? How could “they” let it? If there’s a VCR, then TV will soon disappear, they reason. He shows it to them and, at their request, plays a video for them. As the two big-haired early 80s style Americans do the good old in and out, the boys look on in wide eyed wonder. Like true entrepreneurs, they sell pages of nude women out of Playboy-esque magazines and use their profits to shop at toy stores. A wonderful irony, understandable only much later, takes place when Dong-Su “stabs” Joong-suk with a retractable knife in a toy store. In a scene visually striking and, later, emotionally moving as well, the boys float out to sea on a donut and discuss the flippant issues of life. We follow the group as they meet again in High school, each molded in different ways because of their middle schools. Joong-suk has become the “boss” of his school, or the head of their gangsters, with Dong-su as his “second boss”. Sang-taek is the naïve intellectual, and Joong-ho is the quirky pervert. The four friends grow as close as they had been as boys, though their new radically different personalities make the relationships very different. After an amazingly large, epic, and beautiful scene where the four of them begin a fight with countless students, and are subsequently rushed by the mass, and the culmination of Dong-su’s disappointment in both his father’s profession and the manipulation within their school which results in violently bashing in windows and trophies, Dong-Su and Joong-suk are expelled from school. This catalyzes their full descent into the gangster world and, as Sang-taek and Joong-ho go off to college, Dong-su is locked in prison and Joong-suk falls prey to drugs and failed commitments. As time progresses and the boys are pulled further apart, Joong-suk and Dong-su must face the ultimate test of friendship.

What’s most amazing about this film is that it’s not fiction. Sang-taek is a stand in for the film’s writer/director, Kwak Kyung-taek. Experiencing something like this must be life changing, and the depth of reality likely fuel the greatness of the film. Every scene here is handled with the utmost care. Nothing is extraneous, and all questions are answered. Characters are clear, motives are, though questioned, undeniably present and crucial. The violence is brutal, not necessarily because of how much is shown (though Kyung-taek never holds back) but because of the motivation behind it.

Visually, Kyung-taek creates a world of beautiful nostalgia. The visuals can almost be compared to The Godfather, as they have a very similar golden “shine” to them. The two most beautiful scenes, in my opinion, are the opening in which children bask in mist produced from a slow-moving truck driving through town and an extraordinarily stylized, intense, and painful murder scene towards the end of the film. However, the film will constantly dazzle you with its visuals as much as it does with its characters and story.

Another jaw-dropping area of Friend is its performances. Oh-seong Yu shows amazing range, from sadness to hate to a moving scene with him huddled against a wall, unwittingly spouting out comments of hate towards his wife as a result of his near overdose on drugs. Dong-kun Jang also gives a great performance of a character who cannot make himself be as heartless as he, and his mob boss, demand. Taw-Hwa Seo is the film’s straight man, and his performance and emotions more than succeed in keeping us engaged and following him with the story. The characters and relationships are the heart and soul of “Friend” and keep it from being just another beautiful, tragic gangster drama.

If you are a fan of the gangster drama, this is a must see. Though thematically dissimilar, Friend might easily be declared the Godfather of Asian gangster dramas. Only, Friend succeeds on a personal level that even the Godfather could not. If you come to this film looking for action, you miss the point and will be disappointed in that department. However, if you come looking for a film that will affect you deeply and put a whole new spin on the genre, Friend is a must-see. For everyone else, Friend still receives my highest recommendation. Anyone can identify with it’s triumphs and tragedies. It has drama, comedy, slight romance, and brutal violence. Not to be missed.

During the 1970’s, four friends grow up very close. The childhood companions are characteristic opposites, with the smart and shy Sang-taek and the goofy clown Joong-ho being the tag alongs compared to the rough and tumble Dong-su and Jeong-suk, with Dong-su being the group leader, his father a well known gangster in the area and Jeong-suk his second in command... As they enter the 80’s and high school, the part between them deepens as Dong-su and Jeong-suk's troublesome ways begin to lead them down a seedier path in life. But, for the more timid and socially inept Sang-taek, having friends with muscle helps when it comes to fights and getting set up with girls. It is a fight one day at a movie house, where the four fiends find themselves quarreling with an entire crowd of kids from a rival school that leads the friends to part for a few years... Cut to a few years later and the college educated Sang-taek and Joong-ho return to find that both former buddies have become even more involved in a life of crime, with Jeong-suk serving time in prison to prove his gangster worthiness and Dong-su a full fledged gang member and drug addict. Sang-taek helps Dong-su get back on his feet, but things take a turn for the worse when Jeong-suk is released from prison. Unwilling to live in Dong-su’s shadow or go legit, Jeong-suk takes up with a rival gang, a more dirty and corrupt group, and soon is at odds with his former friend. Things turn deadly between the two and Sang-taek and Joong-ho may be unable to save their friends from killing each other.

Friend (2001) is an extremely moving and mostly well told tale of growing up, growing apart, but still, despite all the changes, retaining that same basic love for a person. I guess the safest comparison would be to something like As Tears Go By or Mean Streets, though Friend is not as concerned with the gang culture as those two films. But, the shared theme of being unable to help a friend that is spiraling out of control and being lead down a criminal path is there. In this case, it is primarily Sang-taek, the timid youth who prospers in his education, who must watch as Dong-su and Jeong-suk become enemies- enemies who still have fondness for one another, but their priorities lie within their gangster lifestyles. The film offers up a very convincing portrait of the buddies and great period details, including a soundtrack with 80’s songs like Blondies “Call Me”. Even the band that plays at their school, Rainbow, is perfectly 80’s authentic. The friends tell off color tales, goof off, deal with cruel teachers, trying to get girls, and Dong-su and Jeong-suk are constantly sticking up for and defending the weaker Sang-taek and Joong-ho. This latter fact leads to one of the films best sequences the aforementioned fight at a movie theater where they are literally up against and angry mob.

The plotting is nearly split down the middle, with the first half being their more youthful days, childhood and teen years, and the last half being the more mature, early twenties when they begin to distance themselves from one another and Dong-su and Jeong-suk become rivals. It is this last half of the film that features the films most heart wrenching sequences as well as its biggest stumbles. Jeong-suk takes up with the more rough gang leading to friction with Dong-su and he believes Dong-su orders a hit on him when their opposing sides disagree, his mixture of hurt and bloodthirsty anger is note perfect and the sequences very brutal. Unfortunately this is a case where the film would benefit from an additional 10-20 minutes to flesh out this last half, see more from the fortunate two as their criminal friends begin to draw themselves into a fatal fight. But, from what I know of Korean cinema, distributors frown upon films being over two hours, so since the film clocks in at just under two hours that development isn’t there. And, a final crucial scene, comes off a bit cheesy, with soap opera melodrama and overacting, but the rest of the film is so great this one scene stumble doesn’t harm the overall effect very much. Director Kwak Kyung-taek based the film on his own youth, with Sang-taek representing himself and appropriately serving as the films narrator. I have to say it ranks pretty well in the pantheon of autobiographical films, and certainly is one of the better examples of good Korean cinema...