Stories of someone in distress who have to find a way to escape, or ask people to rescue, have always been a popular genre of movies.
Whether it is the Oscar-winning best film "Yago Out of the Mission", the 1995 Shebniza massacre "Rescue Operation Aida", or the Cambodian revolutionary riot "Nowhere to Escape", all of them bring a tense and exciting viewing experience to the audience under the real story or the creative adaptation that conforms to the contemporary background, and the protagonist's "Escape from Mogadishu" trapped in the Somali capital is no exception.
Escape from Mogadihu is a 2021 South Korean action thriller film directed by Yoo Seung-gwan and starring Cho In-sung, Kim Lun-hee, and Heo Jun-ho, about the 1991 civil war that broke out in Mogadishu, the capital of Somali.
South Korean embassy staff and family members, unable to communicate with the outside world, struggled to survive every day, until one night, the North Korean ambassador came to the door to ask for help, and in the face of the advancing resistance, the lives of the people who were threatened were also faced with the difficult test of finding a way to break through the predicament.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > history is always so similar</h1>
At the beginning of the film, "Escape from Mogadihu" explains to the audience the background of the era and the atmosphere of the whole film.
Although the United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the legitimate regime of the Korean Peninsula in 1948, the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950 left the Korean Peninsula in a state of division and instability, which also prevented South Korea from becoming a full member of the United Nations.
So in late 1980, the South Korean government sent many diplomats to African countries with diplomatic or reciprocal ties, hoping that they would be able to speak out for themselves in the United Nations General Assembly, including the politically unstable Somalia.
Therefore, in order to win the united nations seat, the hostile north and south Korea are also engaged in fierce competition in Somalia, and the process is clearly described in the early part of the story of "Escape from Mogadihu".
The intelligence officer played by Cho In-sung brought many gifts from South Korea to President Somalija, but the ambassador was hijacked by robbers sent by North Korea on the way, not only missing the time to meet with the president, but also being preempted by the North Korean ambassador.
Yet such rivalries have changed amid social unrest in the capital, Mogadishu.
Beginning in 1986, riots were rife in Somalia due to President Barre's repressive rule, and in 1991, when North and South Korea were running east and west to join the United Nations, it evolved into a massive rebellion that paralyzed the entire country and turned into anarchy, so viewers can see the diplomatic emissaries of various countries starting to pack their bags after receiving notice in "Escape from Mogadihu".
Unlike the United States, China and Italy, the relatively awkward status of ambassadors in Somalia also trapped them in this dangerous battlefield without fleeing at the first time.
Although it is also a film in which foreigners are affected by the revolutionary riots in developing countries, compared with "Nowhere to Escape" in which Dad and his family evade the rebels, this time "Escape from Mogadixiu" puts more space on the plot level than the thrilling escape, such as the outbreak of war, or the characters are still worried about facing danger to their lives.
The impact of this external environment on people gives "Escape from Mogadishu" a richer and more diverse layer.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="48" > escape political antagonism in Mogadishu</h1>
Because the North Korean embassy was attacked by rebels and supplies were looted, the North Korean ambassador, who had always been in direct confrontation with South Korea, had nowhere to go, so he had to bring staff and family members to the South Korean embassy for help.
The most interesting part of the movie "Escape from Mogadihu" is that in the case of the breach of the defense line between the police and the government army, the situation has become quite critical, and the conflict between the people on both sides of the South and North Korea due to the hostility between the country and the difference in political positions has occurred.
Among them, from the South Korean ambassador struggling with whether to let them in, cho Yin-sung, who is from the intelligence agency, secretly falsifying the letter of surrender to the North for them, to the North Korean diplomat played by Heo Jun-ho who distrusts the South Koreans.
"Escape from Mogadihu" is set in the 90s era, so that the audience can clearly feel the delicate relationship between North and South Korea that is both enemies and companions, and through this life-threatening war, it is magnified, forcing them to make choices, highlighting the core theme of the whole film.
I love the depiction of the characters in "Escape from Mogadihu" who, under their diplomatic identity, pulls and choices in their hearts.
You may have such a question, the North Korean side is worried that it may be purged after returning to the South Korean embassy for help, so why does the South Korean ambassador as a democracy also cower in the cooperation between the two sides?
But in fact, not only are the two Koreas still at war, North Korea's diplomatic envoys are considered enemies, the warlord dictatorship that just ended in South Korea in 1990, and even the intelligence officer played by Cho In-sung is a former secret service officer who has been demoted, and the shadow accumulated over decades has not dissipated so easily.
Therefore, watching the two sides from the original confrontation, each pregnant with a ghost to the final decision to cooperate, separately to ask for the help of the embassy of the diplomatic country, the most precious and important thing to tell in "Escape from Mogadihu" is actually that the characters temporarily put aside the antagonistic hatred between each other through mutual understanding.
While as ambassadors abroad representing South Korea, we are not allowed to show sympathy, pity, or even substantive assistance to North Koreans who want to annex their country, how can we, as people of moral conscience, watch innocent victims die before our own eyes?
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > the connotation of the ending</h1>
The ending of "Escape from Mogadi hugh" can't help but remind me of the 2018 South Korean spy movie "North Wind", when the originally inseparable enemies are at a life-and-death situation and have a common goal of escaping Mogadishu, can they abandon the former national hatred and achieve a balance between the greatest common factor of national sovereignty and personal interests?
And in the case of determining that he can escape, find a name so that the other party who has not yet escaped from danger can not violate the national regulations, while saving life and maintaining dignity?
Personally, in the process of watching "Escape from Mogadihu", there is a strong sense of déjà vu, which not only coincides with the current events in Afghanistan today, but even if the position is different, but the government army or the rebel army in the eyes of the people is actually not much different from the real state, clearly showing the cruelty of the war and the possible harm, the role in the film because of political factors encountered obstacles, I believe also let the audience think of the Taiwan we are in.
Even if the time and space background is different, whether it is the malicious obstruction and suppression of South Korea in the early part of the "Escape from Mogadihu" movie by North Korea, which has been working in Africa for 20 years, or the two Korean ambassadors are isolated in Somalia after the riot, even if the two sides later cooperate for their lives and cooperate with each other, they also have to examine the tangled state of political relations between each other, which is very similar to the current international situation of Kojima and the chaotic situation in which the government tries to maintain national stability but is under the pressure of public opinion.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="57" > triggered reflection</h1>
Overall, "Escape from Mogadihu" can be said to be a full-fledged film, which not only brings a high degree of entertainment with the thrilling car chase and the oppression of the enemy approaching, which sets the story in the period when North and South Korea won the votes of African countries to join the United Nations, but also pulled each other at a critical moment with people and horses on both sides, including many plot aspects that are worth thinking about and tasting.
Although "Escape from Mogadihu" still mostly uses the South Korean side as the main narrative angle, it may make the view of the film adaptation of this true event somewhat biased.
But looking at the film even if the national sovereignty is opposed, the two koreas still choose to respect each other's will through their understanding of each other, which is a scene that is more precious in the war, and "Escape from Mogadihu" will win the box office in South Korea for no reason.
Thank you for watching, paying attention to me, and learning more about it.