Gyoseob (2023)
6KGyoseob (2023). 1h 48m | 13+
“Itu0026#39;s taken a while for this true story about the 2007 hostage crisis in Afghanistan to come to the screen but it was worth the wait. This movie isnu0026#39;t a non stop action thriller like Escape from Mogadishu. It deals realistically with the process of negotiation with the Taliban step by step with mistakes and all the back and forth dealings. This isnu0026#39;t boring – itu0026#39;s fascinating. The acting is fine. As the negotiator Hwang Jung Min is a superb actor totally convincing – check him out in Narco Saints. Hyun Bin looks sufficiently bronzed and bearded to play a Korean who has been there for a while and knows the ways of the country. Although he has one tense action sequence his character is not a superhero here and thatu0026#39;s good. He screws up too. When itu0026#39;s a true story like this one you donu0026#39;t need unrealistic heroics. Need to understand missionaries were not welcome there because of the religious aspect but volunteers to help the people were.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eProduction is top notch with on location filming in Jordan and the hellish atmosphere of Afghanistan captured well. You can almost feel the heat and dust. The viewer is brought face to face with the Taliban and thatu0026#39;s better than some of the Hollywood treatments of the subject which seem redacted and remote like Zero Dark 30. No torture here or focus on the killings. There is an overwhelming lesson here about not recklessly going into dangerous countries especially when warned. See all the trouble it caused.”
