Harbin – Review

7th January 2025

Harbin – Review. By Daniel Rester.

Harbin tells the real-life story of Korean independence activists who fought against the Japanese in order to try to gain freedom for their country. More specifically, it focuses on an assassination plot in 1909. During that time, a group of Koreans sought to eliminate Japanese prime minister and resident-general of Korea Itō Hirobumi (Lily Franky).

Ahn Jung-geun (Hyun Bin) leads the group of rebels, though some of them question his abilities and allegiance after a decision he made involving prisoners of war; this is especially true with Woo Deok-sun (Park Jeong-min), the hot head of the group. Ahn eventually decides that they will make the attempt on Hirobumi’s life at the Harbin railway station in China.

Harbin tells a gripping historical story and is directed with style by Woo Min-ho. However, its tone is all over the place and it doesn’t dive into the dense politics behind the Japan-Korea conflict very much. As its straightforward story played out, Harbin brought to my mind everything from Saving Private Ryan (1998) to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) to The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) to the many James Bond films. The overbearing music by Jo Yeong-wook shifts around a lot too.

The film gets a big boost from cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, known for shooting such films as Burning (2018) and Parasite (2019). As Harbin moves from smokey interiors to muddy and snowy forests to vast deserts, Hong captures stunning images. He even makes ice look unique, with harsh white lines sprawling across frozen rivers like giant spider webs.

Hong and Woo capture the action scenes vividly too. The opening battle on a snowy landscape is a bit chaotic and almost feels out of place by the end of the film, but it is quite visceral. Later violent scenes aboard a train fare better with their drawn out suspense and tight settings.

The central protagonists of Harbin have complex relationships and the actors strike up believable chemistry. Some of them save each other, only to be betrayed later. Others aren’t sure how far to go with their fight for freedom. Jo Woo-jin has the most interesting character, Kim Sang-hyun, who seems like he will just be a bookish side player at first but grows into a dynamic figure.

The antagonists are less compelling and almost cartoonish at times. Park Hoon (as Tatsuo Mori) plays ruthless and has a scar stretching across his face. Meanwhile, Franky tries for some subtlety as Hirobumi but it is lost to villainous dialogue as he sits in a big red chair.

Harbin tells a straightforward but riveting historical story and features explosive action sequences. Woo never quite settles on a tone, but he stages individual scenes with gusto. Hong’s cinematography helps bring a richness to the film too.

Rating: 7.3/10

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