The year is 1972 and a South Korean military base working in support of US troops in Vietnam receives a distress call from one of their platoons, MIA for the last six months. A member of the missing platoon, however, insists that they’re all dead.Their last known location? A strategically important island 150 km’s south of Ho Chi Minh city, designated ‘Romeo-Point’.
In light of the continuing radio transmissions, HQ orders Lieutenant Choi Tae-in (Kam Wu-seong) to lead a platoon into R-Point in a search and rescue mission. A hardened veteran with a history of getting people hurt, the mission is punishment for the latest of Choi’s indiscretions.
On arriving at R-Point, the troops set up base at an abandoned French plantation, where they have a week to find the truth and complete their mission. The lack of a tangible enemy, however, doesn’t mean they’re alone.
R-Point Director and Screenwriter Kong Su-chang
Kong Su-chang’s latest film is G.P 506, released in 2008 though not yet generally available across the West. By all accounts it bears more than a passing resemblance to R-Point, which was Su-chang’s first major feature, and one can’t help wonder if his keeping with the ‘Wartime Horror’ sub-theme is due to a sense of unfinished business.
By and large, Korean film-makers work to great effect with minimal budgets and time-frames, but here’s a case where a more robust budget and time in production would have gone a long way to making this a truly unforgettable film. Instead, we have a film whose ambition out-reached it’s resources. You don’t need to listen to the commentary track and Su-chang frequently noting the many necessary cutbacks and changes to production, which also suffered from it’s choice to shoot overseas in Cambodia, to get a sense of where this film was aiming and where it ultimately hit.
The location couldn’t have been better scouted, with a variety of forestry, plains and the ruins of ancient temples as well as the main structure of the plantation itself, none of which are sets – all of which only contribute a small part of their potential. The film’s visuals are still well-composed and occasionally spectacular, as when the troops are attacked in a bamboo forest or come the reveal of said plantation.
Unfortunately, visuals are not the biggest set-back, because failures in a script will always cripple the end result. Su-chang has written too much of a classic ghost story, just a short conceptual step from the simplicity of the Japanese Kwaidan (1964). Strictly speaking, that’s not a flaw, but in light of what the script suggests and then fails to deliver the film is, again, plagued by untapped resources.
For instance, part of the fictionalized lore of the film – specifically of a Chinese massacre of the Vietnamese – is a crucial part of the story, including words to the effect that all those who enter R-Point with blood on their hands will never return. This, one might think, was an ideal basis to delve deeper into each man’s history in the Vietnam war and would be the springboard for much of the film’s tone. Instead, it’s more of a presumption that the platoon under Lt. Choi all qualify for supernatural persecution. It’s a fair enough presumption, but the lack of further detail not only deprives the film of establishing it’s ensemble of characters, but also means their experiences are not so personalized and therefore not so terrifying.
Kam Wu-seong and Sun Byung-ho Lead R-Point Cast
By all accounts the cast and crew suffered for their art to put this together and so it’s a pity that the final result comes up short (actors apparently had such a hard time of filming that many wanted to know when their death-scene would be shot, so they could go home.)
A good cast is led by very strong actors in Kam Wu-seong and Sun Byung-ho (as Sgt. Jin). Wu-seong also featured in 2004’s The Spider Forest along with Byung-ho, who also appeared in G.P 506 andKim Jee-woon’s brilliant The Good, the Bad, the Weird.
Actors are impervious to criticism, however, if failed by the script and the characterization here is superficial. More effort has gone into the uniqueness of each man’s appearance than it has to his personality. As the lynchpin of the platoon, Lt. Choi’s history is left entirely to the imagination as are the personal tendencies that have torpedoed his career. A stronger character in Choi would’ve also helped reflect new aspects of the platoon he’s leading.
R-Point Summary
In another universe, R-point is the genuine great that it was meant to be. As it stands, it’s visual successes are diluted by it’s failure as a script to go deeper into just about every aspect of the story.
With all that said, there are a lot of redeeming qualities to be appreciated, from the cinematography (despite it’s limited use) to strong leads (albeit without the strong characters), and classic ghosts-messing-with-their-heads sequences – including a great scene in which a soldier mistakes several spirits for his own platoon and a consistently strong atmosphere.
In it’s best moments R-Point gets up to an 8 and is let down by a 6-low script, averaging to a decent 7. It’s well worth watching but will leave some viewers, along with the director, lamenting the fact that this could’ve been very special.
- Producer: Choi Kang-hyeok, Jang Yun-hyeon
- Director: Kong Su-chang
- Screenplay: Kong Su-chang
- Starring: Kam Wu-seong, Sun Byung-ho, Oh Tae-kyung, Park Won-sang, Lee Seon-gyun, Song Jin-ho
- Released: August 2004 by Cinema Service (S.Korea)
- Running Time: 101 min.
Michael Pantazi - Michael Pantazi is just another aspiring writer with delusions of artistic ability. He is almost entirely self-educated and living in ...
