Harbin (2024) opens Friday

In 1909 the Koreans resisting Japanese rule plot to kill the Japanese Prime Minister who will be visiting the country.

Seeing HARBIN is going to be a great way to start 2025. This is a taut espionage thriller that is going to keep you on the edge of your seat. It doesn't matter if you know what happens, the twists and turns and the well drawn characters are going to keep you invested.

Beginning and ending with a haunting image of a man crossing a frozen river HARBIN grabs us early on. Beautifully spinning out it's tale in such away as to create natural tension, the film drops us into a time where the Koreans lived in fear under the thumb of the Japanese army. The fear that anyone or everyone around you was working with the Japanese is very real, and as we see in the film not being wary can cost lives. The creation of this feeling from the get go adds a great deal to the proceedings. 

What helps make the film so good is how the characters are drawn. There isn't a clear line as whether someone is all good or bad. No one is perfect. Yes, we know that Ahn is above reproach, but even he makes some really bad choices that result in many deaths. There is no clear path to victory, and even victory, if achieved, is going to end badly, Japan after all controls the country. The cast is first rate and make you like everyone.

The film is helped along by a great visual style. The film looks great and feels like we are back over a century. The large scale set pieces feel just as intimate as the smaller ones where the plot is hatched.

As wonderful as the film is the film does have one flaw and that it is trying to to do too much. There is a lot to the story and in order to make it all work the film frequently resorts to flashbacks which pause the forward momentum. I suspect that the film is going to play better the second and third times through when we are more accepting of the film on it's own terms.

Quibbles aside, I had a blast with this film. It's so good that I'm going to see if I can make it into a theater for second go where I can just sit and watch and munch on popcorn as I get lost in the story of freedom fighters.

Highly recommended.