“The Attorney” is a fantastic film and surprisingly the first film directed by Woo-seok Yang. Featuring a magnificent performance by Kang-ho Song, “The Attorney” is a riveting film that will captivate you from beginning to end. Highly recommended!
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DVD TITLE: The Attorney
FILM RELEASE DATE: 2013
DURATION: 127 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 16:9, Korean 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Well Go USA Entertainment
RATED: TV MA
AVAILABLE ON:Â June 17, 2014
Directed by Woo-seok Yang
Written by Yoon Hyeon-ho, Woo-seok Yang
Produced by Jae-Won Choi
Executive Producer: Woo-Taek Kim
Cinematography by Tae-yoon Lee
Edited by Jae-bum Kim, Sang-bum Kim
Production Design by Seong-hie Ryu
Costume Design by Seung-hee Rim
Starring:
Yeong-ae Kim as Choi Soon-ae
Do Won Kwak as Cha Dong-yeong
Dai-su Oh as Park Dong-ho
Kang-ho Song as Song Woo-seok
Young-chang Song as Judge
Si-wan Yim as Jin-woo
This story is based on true events. SONG Woo-seok has no clients, connections, or a college degree, but his eye for business and appetite for money make him the most successful lawyer in town. But at the peak of his success, a local teenager is falsely accused of a crime, then beaten and tortured while waiting in jail. Shocked by these conditions, SONG takes the case no one else will, and changes the course of his life.
Actor Song Kang-ho has appeared in Korea’s top films. From “Swiri”, “J.S.A.: Joint Security Area”, “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance”, “The Host”, “The Good, The Bad, the Weird” to name a few.
His 2013 film “The Attorney”, directed by first time director Yang Woo-seok has not only done amazingly well in the box office when it was first released in Korea but it has also attracted positive reviews from film critics worldwide.
Based on director Yang Woo-seok’s web-toon, the story of “The Attorney” is loosely based on the infamous “Burim case” which took place back in 1981 in which 22 students, teachers and workers in a book club were falsely accused of being Communists by the new military government of Chun Doo Hwan. In real life, Roh Moo-hyun would represent those accused of being communists. They were tortured by National Security and the only one who would fight for them is an attorney with no law experience and only a high school degree but passed the bar. This attorney (or “Counselor” as they would say in Korea) would one day become president of the Republic of Korea (2003-2008) and would die of suicide in 2009.
But one of the highlighted facts about the late Republic of Korea President was the fact that he studied law on his own, challenged the bar and passed. And the “Burim Case” would lead him to become a human rights lawyer, which would play a part in his segue into politics.
But as the story of “The Attorney” is based on true events, it’s loosely based on the actual events that transpired, but the film was not about the case that the latest President was involved in but a film about human rights and that storyline is what helped “The Attorney” become a controversial film but also a film that has won over many who sympathize with the characters.
“The Attorney” revolves around successful tax lawyer Song Woo-seok (portrayed by Kang-ho Song), who is often ridiculed by jealous attorneys because he did not go to grad school and often thought as inferior because he only has a high school degree. But the fact that he passed the bar and is a successful tax attorney has caught the attention of many.
Meanwhile, Song is often eating at the restaurant of Jin Woo’s (portrayed by Si-wan Yim) mother and Song looks at Jin-woo as a kindhearted and smart college student. And considering that Jin-woo’s mother helped Song when he was younger and helped him become the attorney that he is today, he feels indebted to her.
One day, Jin-woo and 21 other of his fellow students in the book club were kidnapped and tortured by National Security who deemed them as communists for the books that they were reading. Brainwashed and repeatedly tortured by the military-driven government, while no one wants to represent anyone deemed as communists, Jin-woo’s mother pleads with one man who can…. Song Woo-seok.
But is Song ready for taking on a major case of this magnitude?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Attorney” is presented in 16:9 widescreen and Korean 5.1 Dolby Digital. While I wished this film was released on Blu-ray, on DVD, “The Attorney” is good as it can get.  Soundtrack features a clear soundtrack and subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Attorney” comes with no special features but a theatrical trailer.
A riveting film from beginning to end, Woo-seok Yang’s directorial debut is a rarity for first-time directors who try to make a name for themselves in Korean cinema.
Others go on to do action or romantic comedy’s but Yang’s “The Attorney” focuses on taking on one of South Korea’s historic cases. For South Koreans who respected the former President Roh Moo-hyun, this loosely based story on real events shows us one man’s determination to fight for what he believe is right and to take on government/military corruption, while the film inspires people to fight against any injustice.
Several months after the film was shown in South Korea, eleven victims of the Burim case, now in their 50’s and 60’s visited the grave of the former President as the film allowed them to visit his graveyard and pay their respects.
But it’s the power of Woo-seok Yang’s film and the performance by Kang-ho Song that wins you over.
The story of a tax attorney during the early ’80s, who is successful (despite not attending law school and only graduating from high school) until he finds out that a young student that he has met has gone missing and through the boy’s mother who begs for his help, the attorney goes to visit the boy and what he sees is an innocent boy who has been accused of being a communist, tortured by military officials to plead guilty for crimes they did not commit.
And it’s the strategy that the character of Song Woo-seok goes through in order to be heard, despite his colleagues not believing in him and even when it seems that he is an underdog with no chance of winning the case, you want to root for the Attorney after seeing violent images of torture to these students and to realize that this although loosely based on real events, what happened to these students, these victims in real life is heartbreaking.
But I watch this movie with two different perspectives. Putting myself in the shoes of South Koreans and discussing this film with friends from South Korea, it’s knowing Korea’s past of why the story of this film resonated strongly with audiences.
The film takes place during the time of a different Korea. A time of turmoil not long after the assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee after decades of autocratic rule, followed by years of the Doo-hwan Chun military dictatorship put many in the state of fear and which would lead to the Gwangju Uprising of 1980 leaving 165 people dead and this Burim Case an extension of the fabrication of the National Security.
For many who are getting into Korean entertainment and pop culture today, probably are unaware of how far South Korea has come since the ’60s and part of the reason for this film’s controversy is because there are those who still have the traditional mindset of how Korea should be. And of course, the regionalism can be seen as an ongoing problem in South Korea.
And the “Burim Case” was an extension of the dictatorship, the political chaos of South Korean history and “The Attorney” being a reminder to audiences that despite how far people have come since those years, problems still exist in the country but one should not lose sight of what South Korea is.
For us in America, we watch this film about human rights but also of how one man has made a difference. We love the underdog, especially stories of one heroic individual fighting for the rights of victims with no voice. I found the film riveting because the storyline was riveting, the performances strong but the fact is that despite how bad human rights were for South Koreans under dictatorship, these people believed in change.
This film is not only about change but I see it as also a stern warning of what Korea should not be, ever again. And how inspiring that one man, with no college experience, would work his hardest, become a lawyer by challenging the exam, becoming successful and eventually taking on a groundbreaking case that rattled South Korea.
What first-time director Woo-seok Yang was able to accomplish was something special with “The Attorney” and possibly a film that may be his possible masterpiece or a glimpse of brilliant director and we can only wait and see of what kind of films the writer/director will have in store for viewers in the future.
While I wished “The Attorney” was released on Blu-ray picture quality on DVD is good, audio is clear and English subtitles are easy to read. I wish there were special features but all that is included on the DVD is a theatrical trailer.
Overall, “The Attorney” is a fantastic film and surprisingly the first film directed by Woo-seok Yang. Featuring a magnificent performance by Kang-ho Song, “The Attorney” is a riveting film that will captivate you from beginning to end. Highly recommended!
