Five marines volunteer for a special mission ? destroy a North Korean ammunition storehouse. This film tells their personal stories. Newly appointed platoon commander Oh Suk-man who is on bad terms with his father, the battalion colonel; intelligence Jong-kuk who has left his pregnant lover behind; farmer Young-sun from Jeolla-do; a shrewd father of five daughters from Seoul, Joo-han; and Hoon-gu, a thug living with his single mother. Their humorous and affectionate relationships make up the long first half of the movie, to be followed by a short but powerful spectacle showing the special mission. Unlike the textbook war movie, which brings the army and the nation together as one, Director Kim Kee-duk captures the individual against the backdrop of war. The witty dialogue and natural performances help us identify all the more with the characters, and this in turn intensifies the tragedy of their eventual demise. The war scene at the end of the movie was made with massive support by the army, and though it has its own merit, the humane perspective of the men in action is more impressive in this debut feature by director Kim Kee-duk. (KANG Sowon)