[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Song of the Bandits" Episode 1

In 1915, Yoon (played by Kim Nam-gil) is a former slave struggling with depression. His former master Gwang-il (played by Lee Hyun-wook-I) tries to get Yoon to come out more, taking him to events that extol the positive impact the Japanese Occupation has had on Korean culture, allowing them both to become soldiers. But all Yoon can do is drink and grimace, thinking of all the people he's killed and all the people he's failed. Yoon goes north, resigned to die, yet ultimately decides to at least let himself die for a purpose.

Advertisement

"Song of the Bandits" almost immediately gets on my good side by depicting the Japanese as nuanced villains rather than caricatures. From the very beginning we see a propaganda truck distributing leaflets about the recent land reform. The contrast with "Mr. Sunshine" is noteworthy, as that drama has no concept of landlordism and its very important influence on Korean politics of the time.

But "Mr. Sunshine" is chiefly a romantic story, while "Song of the Bandits" in the first episode at least tends to revel in cynicism. One of the first facts Yoon learns upon arriving in Manchuria is that bandits have a very bad reputation. Many of them are de facto aligned with the Japanese. There are no heroes in this era. There are thugs, and bullies, and bystanders. But mostly there's just people who want to get paid.

Yoon is a well-drawn character because he doesn't really know what to believe in anymore. Kim Nam-gil seems like he might be slightly too old for the role, but his age actually works really well to emphasize his character's general weariness. Yoon suffers from a distinctly middle-aged lack of self-esteem and self-worth, despite the faith other people have in him, mainly because Yoon doesn't respect or trust the people who've seen him at his best, as a killer.

The brutal theming of "Song of the Bandits" does not, as of yet, appear to be very marketable. It's only the most popular South Korean drama on Netflix in South Korea proper. This is a shame, because the drama's a genuinely excellent use of the setting. Even as the end of the first episode teases a fairly explicitly formulaic coming together of various ne'er do wells for a greater purpose, "Song of the Bandits" promises a lot more historical gunfighting- rare enough to be an entertaining novelty in and of itself.

Written by William Schwartz

___________

"Song of the Bandits" is directed by Hwang Joon-hyeok, Park Hyeon-seok, written by Han Jeong-hoon, and features Kim Nam-gil, Seohyun, Yoo Jae-myung, Lee Hyun-wook-I, Lee Ho-jung, Kim Do-yoon-I. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2023/09/22, Fri on Netflix.