Like
any good socialist system, power in the DPRK is transferred along hereditary
lines. Kim Jong-un has just succeeded
his father Kim Jong-il. However, a power
struggle for day-to-day control over the country’s lucrative arms dealings,
their only source of hard currency, will engulf at least four intelligence
agencies in Ryoo Seung-wan’s The Berlin
File (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in New York.
Officially,
Pyo Jong-seong is a national hero of the People’s Republic. He is so good at his covert duties, he
remains a “ghost” to western intelligence databases. Assigned to close an arms sale to an Islamist
terrorist group brokered by the Russians, Pyo is quite put out when the Mossad
crashes the party. Jung Jin-soo is also
rather out of sorts as well. The South
Korean operative was hoping to bust the Northern Koreans, but the third party
intervention blew his operation. One of
the few remaining Cold Warriors in an office full of appeasers, Jung’s position
becomes rather precarious politically.
Of course, Pyo is in a tighter spot.
Technically,
Pyo is above reproach, but his wife Ryun Jung-hee is not. As he learns from the Ambassador, Ryun has
fallen under suspicion in Pyongyang.
Dong Myung-soo, a well-connected special agent has been dispatched to
investigate her as the Israelis’ presumed informant. Pyo has some rather difficult history with
Dong, so he cannot expect any favors from the Communist operative. Meanwhile, the South Korean Jung is out to
get Pyo to avenge his comrades. A pariah
in his own agency, Jung only trusts the council of his CIA contact, Marty,
perhaps the film’s only genuinely likable character.
A
pleasant surprise from Ryoo and the Korean film industry, Berlin File is one of the best espionage films since Tinker Tailor, in which the true
villains are North Koreans and Islamic terrorists. America does not factor greatly in the story,
aside from the sympathetic figure of Marty.
While the South Korean intelligence service does not cover itself in
glory, all their dubious actions are done with the intent of making nice with
the North. In short, writer-director
Ryoo basically nails the geo-political realities. He can also stage a wicked fight scene. Just watching Pyo’s concluding throw-down
will make your back wail in pain.
There
are indeed some impressive action sequences, but Ryoo is even more effective
tapping into bone-deep themes of betrayal and loyalty. He really puts Pyo and Ryun through the
wringer and doesn’t do Jung any favors either.
As a result, Berlin should be
tragic enough to be a monster hit in Korea and sophisticated enough to appeal
to American fans of international intrigue.
Ha
Jung-woo (who blew the doors off dark thrillers like Nameless Gangster, The Chaser, and Yellow Sea), is all kinds of bad as Pyo, convincingly portraying
his conflicted loyalties and mounting disillusionment. Although international superstar Gianna Jun
is almost entirely de-glamorized as Ryun, she is still quite a presence,
surprisingly affecting in several key scenes.
Berlin also boasts a great supporting
ensemble, particularly including Lee Kyoung-young, who plays the Ambassador
with a moral ambiguity that really keeps viewers off-balance, and John Keogh,
appealingly cynical as the friendly neighborhood CIA agent (benefiting from the
generous helpings of English dialogue, nicely punched-up by American
screenwriter Ted Geoghegan).