Overview of Silmido

‘Silmido’ is a South Korean movie about war released on 24 December 2003. The movie is starred by Sol Kyung-gu, Heo Joon-ho, Ahn Sung-ki, and Jung Jae-young. The director Kang Woo-suk and the writer Kim Hie-jae got the inspiration for the movie from the novel written by Baek Dong-ho of the same name.

As part of a counterattack, the South Korean government created a secret team called Unit 684 to assassinate Kim Il Sung, the famous politician and the founder of North Korea. To make up Unit 684, 31 deadly criminals are trained by the military force, giving them the false hope of redemption from their punishments. Neither of them knew that the country created a suicide squad using them.

Profile

• Name: Silmido
• Genre: Drama, Action
• Starring: Sol Kyung-gu, Ahn Sung-ki, Heo Joon-ho, Jung Jae-young
• Director: Kang Woo-suk
• Writer: Kim Hie-jae
• Release date: 24 December 2003
• Produced by: Jonathan Kim, Lee Jong-sun
• Distributed by: Cinema Service
• Cinematography: Kim Sung-bok
• Running time: 135 minutes
• Music by: Jo Yeong-wook
• Edited by: Ko Im-pyo
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

• Sol Kyung-gu as Kang In-chan
• Heo Jun-ho as Sergeant Jo
• Ahn Sung-ki as Choi Jae-hyun
• Lim Won-hee as Won-hee
• Jung Jae-young as Han Seung-pil
• Kang Sung-jin as Chan-suk
• Kim Kang-woo as Min-ho
• Kang Shin-il as Keun-jae
• Lee Jeong-hun as Sergeant Park
• Uhm Tae-woong as Won-sang
• No Jun-ho – Joon-Ho
• Lee Dong-hoon – Dong-hoon
• Lee Suk-goo – Chairman Kim
• Kang Do-han – Do-han
• Choi Young – Yeok-joon
• Lee Seung-chul – Lee Byung-ho
• Kim Ki-hwan – Ki-hwan
• Won Woong-jae – Sang-Min
• Park Jin-soo – Jin-soo
• Ryoo Je-seung – Je-seung
• Song Yong-tae – General Kim
• Kim Tae-soo – Jung-guk
• Lee Hyo-jeong – Director Oh
• Lee Sang-hong – Jae-yong
• Kim Hyung-jong – Hae-il
• Park Seung-tae – In-chan’s mother
• Seo Jin-won – Operations Officer
• Shin Duk-ho – Kim Shin-jo
• Lee Sung-won – Government Agent
• Choi Min-geum – woman on the bus
• Bang Soo-hyung – det. in the prologue
• Hyun Chul-ho – Kim Shin-jo’s corpsman
• Jo Min-joon – Ji-hwan
• Jeon Sang-jin – A spy from North Korea
• Park Sang-hyuk – Commissioned officer
• Jung Yu-mi – a student on the bus
• Shin Wu-cheol
• Kim Won-suk
• Sin Sin-beom

Synopsis

As a means of reprisal for the assassination attempt against President Park Chung-hee on 21 January 1968, South Korea decides to form a counterattack group. The group is comprised of 31 social outcasts whom the Republic of Korea has proclaimed deadly criminals. The government shifts the Unit to an island called Silmido for training. Under the supervision of the South Korean Armed Forces, the team undergoes severe training to murder Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea.

If Unit 684 succeeds in its mission of killing Kim Il-sung, the former prisoners will be redeemed for their crimes as a reward. Therefore, the team takes the mission seriously, hoping for a free life. However, during the training procedure, one of the members lost his life, making the trainees aware of the consequences of the mission.

The rigorous training influences the mind and body of the entire team and starts to reflect teamwork in their actions. The government dispatches the spirited soldiers for their mission in South Korea.

Sadly, the officials cancel the missions on behalf of signing a peace treaty and recall the unit from South Korea. The hopeless team members are once again brought back to Silmido to their barracks. Out of frustration, two of the members sneak out of their shelter and harass a female doctor. The incident brings shame upon the entire unit. Therefore, they decide to kill each other rather than get executed by the soldiers. By the time half the mission is complete, the soldiers discover the unit member, not giving him the time to kill himself.

For harassing the lady doctor and killing his teammate, the guards tie up the unit member and torchers him by beating up his teammates in front of his eyes. Triggered by the shame of betrayal and the pain of getting beaten up, one of the unit members drags out a guard’s bat and kills the traitor.

To hide the secret upbringing of Unit 684 and the intention behind it, the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency decides to execute the rest of the members of the unit. It was difficult for the commander of Unit 684 to digest the thought of butchering his team. Therefore, the commander discloses the news to one of the unit members.

Unit 684 breaks into a fight with the guards as their last chance to escape from the group execution. In the fight, they understood that the details about them had already been removed from the official records. Also, they understood that they would have been killed by the government even if they succeeded in the assassination of Kim Il-sung.

To avoid the bad fate, Unit 684 escapes in a bus from their barracks. To prevent their escape, the officials report their escape as an infiltration of armed communist agents into the city. The Korean army gets alerted by the information, and at the Yuhan Corporation building in Seoul, the army surrounds them. Both the army and Unit 684 indulge in a fierce fight, causing death on both sides. Being caught up in a pathetic situation of bloodshed, the unit members decide to kill themselves by exploding the grenades they possess. About the incident, the officials conduct a vague investigation to blind the eyes of the public.

Theme

‘Silmido’ portrays the birth and secret execution of a secret squad called Unit 684. The movie takes the audience through the mental and physical transformation of 31 criminals who are taken to an island for rigorous army training. The criminals, when taken out of prison and given training, get a purpose to move forward and lead a better life. By the end of the training, the criminals have transformed into better humans who sacrifice themselves to avoid unwanted bloodshed.

Awards

• Baeksang Arts Awards 2004
  Grand Prize for Film

• Grand Bell Awards 2004
  Best Supporting Actor – Heo Joon-ho
  Best Adapted Screenplay – Kim Hie-jae
  Best Planning – Jonathan Kim
  Special Jury Prize – Plenus/Cinema Service

• Blue Dragon Film Awards 2004
  Best Film
  Best Director – Kang Woo-suk
  Best Supporting Actor – Jung Jae-young

Interesting Facts about Silmido

1. The scenes of underwater and winter training in the ‘Silmido’ were shot in Malta and New Zealand.
2. ‘Silmido’ was theatrically released in the United States and Japan.
3. In South Korea ‘Silmido’ reached 6 million people by the end of the 26th day of its release accumulating a profit of $30 million.
4. In Japan alone ‘Silmido’ grossed a profit of $4,540,528 and in the United States, it grossed $ 298,347 from limited releases.
5. Till the release of the film ‘Taegukgi’ by Kang Je-gyu in 2004, ‘Silmido’ occupied the number one position in the South Korean box office.
6. The film ‘Silmido’ is inspired by the 1999 novel of the same name written by Baek Dong-ho, which tells the real-life story of Unit 684.
7. The film ‘Silmido’ compelled the government to present a report about Unit 684 in 2006.

FAQs

1. Who is the director of ‘Silmido’?
   Kang Woo-suk is the director of ‘Silmido’.
2. When was the movie ‘Silmido’ released?
   24 December 2003.
3. What is the Instagram ID of Heo Joon-ho?
   @huhjh_jcw.
4. Is the movie ‘Silmido based on a real-life story?
   Yes, ‘Silmido’ is based on Unit 684.