My Way

My Way (2011) is a Korean war epic you can watch online on iFILM. It grows out of a real photo: after the Normandy landings, Allied troops captured a gaunt Korean man wearing a German uniform — someone who had somehow passed through three foreign armies.

Korean runner Kim Jun-shik and Japanese rival Tatsuo grow up as marathon competitors under colonial rule. The track makes them rivals, the war makes them enemies, and the same century-spanning meat grinder chews up both. Service in the Japanese army, Soviet captivity after Khalkhin Gol, the Eastern Front under German colors, and finally that beach in France. Jang Dong-gun and Joe Odagiri anchor the whole thing, with a supporting turn from Fan Bingbing.

Director Kang Je-gyu, the man behind Shiri and Taegukgi, made one of the most expensive Korean productions of its day, and the battle sequences land with real weight. The plotting sometimes barrels straight through nuance, but the scale is genuine — a film about how empires grind down two specific men. Stream My Way (2011) online on iFILM.