What Is the Story About?
The South Korean Sageuk Or historical action drama Song of the Bandits is set in 1920s, during the turbulent period of Japanese Occupation of Korean Peninsula. The show follows Lee Yoon, an unlikely orphan who repents being a part of Japanese army and rises up as a Saviour to save people of Joseon with his own team of Bandits, operating from Gando, a land of lawlessness, to fight for freedom from Japanese invasion.
Performances?
Kim Nam Gil is fantastic as Lee Yoon, an orphan who was inducted to the Japanese Army, redeems himself with pent up guilt and an ardent wish to be killed by the man whose family died because of him, then elevates himself as a saviour to the Koreans in the nameless land of Gando, owing to die for their life and honour.
The character arc from an exceptional soldier to an outcast saviour is safe in the actor’s hands without a doubt. But, the most poignant moments of Nam-gil in Songs of the Bandts comes when he is emotionally turbulent and the ache takes him from within.
Analysis
Directed by Hwang Jun-hyeok & written by Han Jeong-hoon, Song of the Bandits is a South Korean Historical or in other words sageuk, that blends a bit of western aesthetics and boggling tarantino-esque action in a setting against the backdrop of Japanese Invasion of Korea.
Song of the Bandits opens up to a washed out man who is in desperate search for a man and now wishes to be discharged from his army duties despite his contemporary soldiers raving about him and his exceptional arts of bravura. Lee Yoon, he is called and he wishes to severe ties with his once master and later friend Kwang-il, a Major in the Imperial Japanese Army and move to Gando in search of Choi Chung Soo, an Independence activist who he apparently wronged.
Yoon severes ties with Gwang-il, their relationship turns sore and moves to Gando where he meets one of his previous friends, a kind woman upon whose intimation he relocated to Gando. He wishes to die at the hands of Choi Chung Soo because he indirectly was the cause of his family’s and many Joseon natives’ murder. Chung Soo forgives him and asks him to serve the land and its people.
Song of the Bandits, lays its premise adequately within the first two episodes itself. The show places a scorned hero going through his redemptive arc, pines for his forbidden love at the center. From a guilt-ridden man wanting to die to a hero who leads a pack of bandits, ready to risk his life for the sake of his people, Lee Yoon makes more enemies than friends. He is also entangled in a complicated love-triangle.
Coming to what works in favour of the show, Song of the Bandits boasts of exceptional action Set-pieces. Some of them being hat-tips to some of the most iconic sequences from raved Westerns. The Kill Bill-esque action set-piece in particular is a favourite. The actors are fluid and agile enough to sell the action sequences and the background score elevates the moments notches above. All the main characters are given well fleshed out arcs and the camera work does a beautiful job in framing the moments, both dramatic and engrossing.
Now, what doesn’t work in Song of the Bandits is its duration. For a storyline as predictable and simple, the show doesn’t need to be as long as 9 episodes. The frequent and rampant front and back flashbacks also confuses the timeline of the story.
To Conclude, Song of the Bandits is worth a watch for the actors and engrossing action, despite a middling storyline that walks on predictability. Kim Nam Gil, Lee Hyun Wook and Lee Ho Jung are especially fantastic in their parts.
Other Artists?
Songs of the Bandits is enriched with a star-cast that’s neck to neck when it comes to ruling the roost. Every single one has done a good job while Lee Hyun-wook as Lee Gwang-gil, Yoo Jae Myung as Choi Chung Soo and Lee Ho Jung as Eon Nyeon stand out with their interesting characterisations and deliverables. Each one of these actors show extreme agility in action sequences, which takes the cake each time they appear onscreen. All the actors who play Lee Yoon’s Bandit gang members have given convincing performances too.
Music and Other Departments?
Song of the Bandits is technically solid. It’s cinematography is so in sync with the Westerns we’ve all grown up enjoying and often hat-tips some of the most iconic Clint Eastwood westerns. Kim Jang-woo’s music is terrific, the end credits in particular alongside super-stylish and super-charged background score that elevates the show’s character.
Highlights?
Cast
Action Set-pieces
Cinematography & Production Design
Music
Character development
Drawbacks?
Predictability
Slow Paced Screenplay
confusing timeline
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes.
Will You Recommend It?
Yes.
Song of the Bandits Series Review by Binged Bureau
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