#It has the same core values and ideas and principles and story-telling methods as Star Wars but that’s not what most people are in it for

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'Bargaining' with a high material wall vs. 'Ghost' that goes beyond the era and genre

While the Hollywood blockbuster 'Avatar: Water Road' and the Japanese animation 'The First Slam Dunk' are on a long run, two Korean films are targeting theaters during the Lunar New Year holidays. These are the movies 'Negotiation' and 'Ghost'.

'Negotiation' is a film depicting the negotiating operation between a diplomat and a local NIS agent who went to Afghanistan to save Koreans who were held hostage by the Taliban in the worst kidnapping case. Based on the 2007 saemmul church kidnapping case, Hwang Jung-min and Hyun-bin play the lead roles, and director Lim Soon-rye, who directed 'Waikiki Brothers', 'The Whistleblower', and 'Little Forest', took the megaphone.

'Ghost' is a movie depicting the real 'ghost''s unstoppable operation and the desperate struggle of the suspects trapped in a remote hotel to break through suspicion and escape, suspected of being a 'ghost', a spy planted by an anti-Japanese organization in Gyeongseong, the Japanese Government-General of Korea in 1933. . Lee Ha-nui and Park So-dam star in the lead roles, and director Lee Hae-young, who made 'Cheonghajangna Madonna' and 'Believer', was in charge of directing.

As the Corona 19 pandemic has continued for several years, it has been difficult to find anticipated works for a while in theaters during the Chuseok and Lunar New Year holidays. During the Lunar New Year holiday in 2023, two heavy genre films featuring top stars are expected to be released at the same time, forming a four-way battle with 'Avatar 2' and 'The First Slam Dunk'.

◆ 'Bargaining', a material wall that blocks empathy… excluded question marks

The kidnapping of the Saemmul Church missionary group was an incident that divided public opinion even at the time of the incident. Of course, the material itself is cinematic. However, as it is a sensitive material, the perspective of the story and the way it unravels the message seemed close to a challenge.

'Bargaining' focused on the person, not the case, to be precise, the negotiators who saved the hostage, not the hostage. The build quality isn't bad. A shocking incident occurs, characters struggling to solve the incident appear, and the charm and performance of top actors are added in a composition in which the incident is dramatically resolved through conflict and crisis.

The film introduces an incident at the same time as it starts. It is a choice for rapid development and at the same time an opening that suggests the direction of directing. The film progresses the play while excluding the point of view or perspective on the controversial real event. It seems that the director wanted to talk about humanism through the story of the people who struggled to solve the case, not the case itself. Regardless of the cause and result of the incident, it is emphasized that it is the duty and responsibility of the state to protect its citizens whose lives are at stake, and that the people's lives are more important than the nation's face or money.

Jae-ho (Hwang Jung-min), an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dae-shik (Hyun Bin), an agent of the National Intelligence Service, take up arms in negotiating with the Taliban. Jae-ho, who values principles and principles, and Dae-shik, who has stayed in the country for a long time, put forward experience and tact and conflict over the method of negotiation. However, in the end, the two of them agree and cooperate on the idea of 'saving people'.

The director's good intentions and messages float throughout the film. Avoid questions that need to be addressed. Although views on it are mixed and controversial, it should not be ruled out. This is because this process itself can lead to acceptance of various perspectives, interpretations, and understandings of events. 'Negotiation' fails to convince the audience about "Why, now, are we telling this story again?"

It is difficult to empathize with the victims of the case and the people struggling to solve the case as the film deviated from the core throughout the movie. The appearance of the hostages maximizes the horror of the situation, but does not lead to sympathy or sympathy for them. In addition, it is difficult to put emotions into the negotiators' blood, sweat, and desperation. It is a movie that does not miss attractions such as motorcycle chase scenes and gunfights, but the barriers to entry mentioned above are too great to fully enjoy the pleasure of the genre.

To put it bluntly, the Foreign Ministry's negotiating strategy was only half-successful. The keynote set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of the negotiations collapsed in a series of unexpected crises, and in the end, they made the next best choice, not the best. The film shows this process with a sense of urgency through the flow of conflict-crisis-resolving, but the hearts of the viewers do not heat up, but instead become cold.

'Negotiation' became an unfinished film that tied a knot without resolving the huge question mark 'Why?' that followed from the beginning to the end. In fact, no matter what kind of debate this negotiation goes through, it is bound to end in 'nevertheless'. Even if they turned the pendulum back to that time, their choices would not have been very different. However, I can't help but feel regretful that this was the best story the movie tried to tell by projecting this incident.

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