2009 Lost Memories (DTS Version) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region All

Some entrants in the alternate history genre certainly contain overt science-fiction elements, such as Harry Turtledove's Guns Of The South, in which a time traveler returns to the year 1864 to give the Confederate Army a supply of AK-47s, thereby ensuring a Southern victory in the American Civil War. However, many other entrants into the genre contain no science fiction elements whatsoever, other than the story taking place in what could be considered an 'alternate universe', the staple of many a Star Trek episode. For example, Robert Sobel's For Want Of A Nail details an alternate history of North America from 1777 to 1971 if the American Revolution had collapsed instead of succeeding, and Stephen Baxter's Voyage depicts the consequences on the American space program had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated in 1963.

Of course, alternate history stories have not been limited to only the printed word. Over the years, there has been a small trickle of films that delve into alternate history scenarios, with the most noteworthy being the chilling British independent production It Happened Here and the HBO television movie Fatherland, both of which detail the ever-popular 'what if?' scenario of Nazi Germany emerging victorious from the Second World War.

The latest entrant in this select group of films would be the 2002 Korean blockbuster 2009 Lost Memories, a decidedly more action-oriented take on the genre set in an alternate universe where Korea has become a permanent part of Japan. And though the over-the-top John Woo-style action does end up overwhelming the science fiction, this stimulating and slickly produced sci-fi flick is definitely a must-see.

The film's 1909 prologue begins in the Chinese city of Harbin with an attempt on the life of occupied Korea's Japanese governor, Ito Hirobumi. However, before Korean gunman Ahn Jung Geun is able to complete his task, he ends up being shot and killed by a Japanese soldier. As a result of the failed assassination, the next 100 years of history unfolds in a completely different direction. Japan becomes an ally of the United States during the Second World War, which ends with the dropping of an atomic bomb on Berlin. As a result of the alliance with Western powers, Japanese expansion in Asia is unhindered, and Korea and Manchuria become permanent parts of a larger Japan.

The story then skips ahead to 2009. After 100 years of Japanese occupation, Seoul has become the third-largest city in Japan and native Koreans have become completely immersed into Japanese society, adopting Japanese surnames and using Japanese as the official language. A group of heavily armed pro-Korean independence terrorists calling themselves the Hureisenjin disrupt an exhibition of Korean antiquities and take hostages. The Japanese Bureau of Investigation (JBI) is called in, with top agents Masayuki Sakamoto (Jang Dong Gun) and Shojiro Saigo (Toru Nakamura) leading the charge. Though Sakamoto is Korean by blood, he follows his duties to the letter and assists his partner in quelling the disturbance.

In the aftermath of the attack, the initial investigation raises a number of questions, including what the true objective of the terrorists was. After some more digging, Sakamoto learns that the Hureisenjin have staged numerous attacks in the past on the historical society that hosted the exhibit, the Inoue Foundation, and that they were likely after an ancient stone artifact. Furthermore, he learns that the last assignment of his father, a disgraced cop who was subsequently killed for treason, was connected to a Hureisenjin attack in 1985.

Meanwhile, the Hureisenjin continue their attacks. While responding to an attack on an Inoue Foundation truck convoy, Sakamoto catches a glimpse of one of the terrorists, a woman named Oh Hye Rin (Seo Jin Ho), whom he recognizes from the recurring dreams that plague his sleep. Unfortunately, Sakamoto's investigation is cut short when his bosses in the JBI prevent him from digging deeper into the Inoue Foundation and its artifacts. In addition, some key data on previous Hureisenjin attacks has been erased, leading Sakamoto to suspect that there is a grand conspiracy at play. However, nothing can prepare him for the astonishing truth underlying the Hureisenjin's actions and the JBI's interest in keeping things quiet.

It seems that in 2008, after the discovery of an ancient 'doorway through time', a right-wing Japanese group sent a man back into the past to stop Ito's assassination, thereby perverting history into a new timeline. It is the goal of the Hureisenjin to collect the necessary artifacts to reconstruct the time machine and return history to its proper trajectory - a mission of monumental importance in which Sakamoto plays a key role.

2009 Lost Memories actually does spin its story from historical fact. Ito Hirobumi was a real Japanese politician who became the first resident general of Korea. In 1909, he was assassinated by Ahn Jung Geun after stepping off a train in Harbin, and this incident is the subject of the 1972 film Uisa Ahn Jung Geun. The rest of the film's script, except for the occasional plot hole, also does a decent job of fleshing out its characters and establishing the fascinating setting of a Japan-dominated Korea.

The evolving relationship between Sakamoto and Saigo is well handled, as their friendship becomes increasingly strained by their displaced loyalties. While Sakamoto becomes increasingly disenchanted with his duties to the JBI after he realizes that he is little more than an errand boy for the Japanese, Saigo is increasingly motivated to preserve the history as he knows it - if the proper timeline is restored, an atomic bomb will have been dropped on Nagasaki and his wife and daughter will have never existed.

Where the script does fall down is in the details about the ancient 'doorway through time'. Little explanation is provided in terms of exactly how it works, and even more distressing is the number of plot holes surrounding its use. Though the Japanese government is very aware of the artifacts and the Hureisenjin's intentions, they still allow them to be moved around the world for public display instead of being kept under high-security lockup. Furthermore, the recurring dreams that Sakamoto has, hinting at a previous involvement with Oh (perhaps 'lost memories' from the other timeline?) make little sense after the story has run its course.

It is also somewhat disappointing that the script did not explore the implications of restoring the proper timeline. Though the altered timeline does have Korea under Japanese rule, the original timeline (i.e. our history) has Korea being divided by war into the communist North and democratic South. It would have been nice to see the characters at least mull over the tradeoffs of their actions.

In terms of action, 2009 Lost Memories delivers the goods. The film's numerous action sequences are well choreographed, technically proficient, and artfully directed. Fans of John Woo's 'Heroic Bloodshed' era of Hong Kong filmmaking will delight in how director Lee Si Myung executes the shootouts. One particularly stunning sequence, in which JBI officers raid the secret headquarters of the Hureisenjin, uses the old Woo technique of counterpoint, where Sakamoto's witnessing of the JBI's ruthlessness is juxtaposed with Saigo celebrating a Japanese festival with his family. The action is also nicely complemented by Lee Dong Jun's evocative score, which calls to mind the rousing orchestrations of Shiri (which Lee also composed for) and Ridley Scott's Gladiator, with a touch of the melancholy operatic compositions found in Friend.

However, director Lee does on occasion stretch the credibility of the action sequences. During the film's more heartfelt moments, all of the bad guys shooting at Sakamoto tend to suddenly become bad shots, even if he is standing still out in the open. Another scene has the honor-bound Sakamoto and Saigo facing off in a bamboo forest, and though it may be beautiful to look at, it ends up looking a bit pretentious.

As the film's hero, Jang demonstrates his versatility as an actor. Despite most of Sakamoto's dialogue being in Japanese, Jang effortlessly handles his lines with only a slight hint of a Korean accent. Furthermore, as he did in Yu Young Shik's The Anarchists, Jang seems to be channeling Chow Yun Fat during the action sequences, demonstrating both confidence and poise. As Saigo, Nakamura is credible as the film's most balanced Japanese character in the film, a man who is torn between his friendship to Sakamoto, his duty to his homeland, and doing what he must to safeguard the lives of his wife and child. As Sakamoto's potential love interest, Seo acquits herself decently, though the script gives her character little to do. Fans of 1999 horror film Memento Mori will also recognize actress Kim Min Sun's cameo in the film's epilogue.

After being released in its native Korea, 2009 Lost Memories became a big hit in the early part of 2002. It also ushered in the arrival of the 'year of the sci-fi blockbuster' in Korean cinema, paving the way for several other high-profile films (all of which have some sort of time-travel plot), such as Jang Sun Woo's Resurrection Of The Little Match Girl and Jun Yun Soo's Yesterday. Despite a few faults along the way, 2009 Lost Memories ends up being an action-oriented science-fiction thriller with the right combination of visceral and narrative elements from Hong Kong actioners and Hollywood productions à la The Terminator and Aliens. If Lee Si Myung can build on this impressive directorial debut, he may very well become South Korea's answer to James Cameron.

Anthony Leong, a part-time film critic since 1997, is the author of Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong, a guidebook to the 'Korean New Wave' that is available from Trafford Publishing. Information on his book, as well as his reviews of Korean films, are available at Mediacircus.net.