Boys of Tomorrow [K-Movie] (2007)

Kisu, a sincere and reserved young man, lives in a tiny basement studio flat and earns his living as a driver. When he feels suffocated by this world that is too small for his dreams, he concentrates on his real passion in life: drumming. Although his material living conditions are somewhat precarious and his future does not look that promising, Kisu never loses hope, his watchword being: «There is no road one cannot take». This apparent optimism however hides a deep trauma: he is eaten up by guilt at having been the cause of his brother Jongdae’s impotence, following an accident that happened when they were children. In atonement, Kisu has set himself the task of protecting him for life. As for Jongdae, he dreams of owning a gun, which would make him, feel stronger when faced with the town’s petty delinquents. In these oppressive circumstances, Kisu is given his young nephew to look after. An intense friendship develops between the brothers and the child, in which two generations confront one another in order to understand and support one another better. Boys of Tomorrow paints a picture of suburban boys who believe their future is elsewhere but who have no means by which to achieve their dreams. As in My Generation – which was a big critical and commercial success, with its reinvention of the conventions of teenage films – NOH Dong-seok’s film takes an unusual look at this section of disenchanted Asian youth. He captures those tense and crucial moments in their lives that swing between enthusiasm and anxiety, yet never relinquishing the precious virtue of hope. The childhood scenes combined with those of adult life anchor the film in a hazy temporality, suggesting that one generation’s future is strangely similar to those that came before and will come after….