Border (Out of) Control (Guard Post (DVD))

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Guard Post (DVD)
Date:	18/06/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bloody, atmospheric and competent

Disadvantages: Typically confusing plot for the genre and too long

A review of the film only, Guard Post is a South Korean film that was originally produced in 2008 under the name G.P. 506. The region 2 DVD was released in October 2008, where the title Guard Post was used.

A military investigation team is sent to a remote guard post on the border between North and South Korea, where the general's son has gone missing. The team finds a bloodbath, with the entire platoon wiped out in gory fashion except for the general's son, apparently the sole survivor. The leader of the investigative team is advised that he only has until 0600 the following morning to complete his investigation and as he starts to piece together the clues, it becomes necessary not only to investigate what happened to the last platoon but also to protect his own team from certain, grisly death...

There's a distinctive feel to most Asian horror films that demands a taste that isn't necessarily easily acquired. Guard Post is probably the strangest combination of Eastern and Western film making influences that I've seen for some time. The narrative dwells on themes often explored within the Asian horror genre (isolation, madness, bizarre and gruesome conditions) and yet the whole thing has production values that are entirely reminiscent of director Su-chang Kong's western counterparts. The fusion of East and West has, in itself, a few problems - but there are bigger issues if the Western elements are ignored completely.

Essentially a mystery story, Guard Post plays out through a combination of flashbacks and real-time action. Generally, the flashbacks are triggered by something that the investigating officer sees or finds. A set of dog tags, for example, has greater significance when taken in context with the discovery of a diary or video footage taken using a camcorder. Initially, this works reasonably well and it's easy to tell the difference between what's happening now and what happened then. However, as the tale progresses, and as the present day events start to take a more sinister turn, the whole thing becomes rather less coherent. This is a particular problem for non-native audiences who might struggle to decipher the difference between one young, bloody Korean soldier and another and I'm quite sure some of the sensitivities and surprises within Kong's narrative are rather lost on a Western audience. It's very much an Asian horror story, built on a fairly slow-burning tale that gradually becomes darker and more involved, but not necessarily at a pace that Western audiences would traditionally enjoy. The running time (nearly two hours in total) is lengthy for the genre, and you can't help thinking that some sharp editing or a more focused script would benefit the eventual impact very nicely.

It's quite a brutal affair and thoroughly deserving of the 18 certificate. There is a lot of bloodshed here, albeit in a fairly conventionally gruesome style. Kong doesn't quite seem to be able to decide what this is all about - a Shining-style tale of gradual insanity or a deadly viral infection? There are elements of both and, although one of those is eventually settled upon, it's not without its faults. Again, it may be the indecipherable combination of past and present action or it might just be the overall running time, but something about Guard Post just doesn't hold together. It doesn't feel like there's a defined narrative journey taking place here; at times Kong could almost be accused of making it up as he goes along.

The other problem is that the sheer number of cast members (both in the past and in the present) means that none of them really has any clear identity. The cast list on www.imdb.co.uk is just a cacophony of South Korean names and it's almost impossible to recall who did what. As such, you tend to end up thinking of or referring to individuals as 'the one in the red jacket' or 'the older one with messy hair'. As such, the only real stand-out performance comes from 'the one who plays the one in charge' but much more than that is impossible to say. The subtitled format for the film doesn't particularly make it hard work, as such, but it certainly doesn't help. Where there seems to be significance in every word and in the way in which every word is spoken, this is a film that to a non-Korean speaker, commands a lot of attention.

On the upside, however, Kong has a strong flair for the mystery/horror genre. Guard Post is irrefutably atmospheric. The present day scenes are generally set at night, but it's not just the darkness that makes things so eerie here. Even in the flashbacks, there's a creepy kind of tone that lingers around the entire production and the camerawork is very good too. As the camera snakes its way around the passages and dark corners of the rather run-down bunker, you're never quite sure what to find and one scene in the film is memorable enough to be used as a (curious) introduction to the disc's main menu.

Guard Post certainly isn't a bad film. Indeed, it's technically rather well-made but it does suffer from its excessive running time and a style that seems to fuse together a very traditional action thriller with something more subtle and horrific, with differing levels of success at different points during the running time. Fans of Asian horror will find much to like here and will probably have the patience to see it through to the end, but anyone else will almost certainly find the finger poised on stop for most of the film's running time.

Summary: The troops at a remote guard post are wiped out in mysterious and violent circumstances