Binary Oppositions within Crimson Tide and Welcome to Dongmakgol

Blair Kim
3.6.2009
English 1102
Dr. Manuel Perez-Tejada

Binary Oppositions within Crimson Tide and Welcome to Dongmakgol

Movies are often a very delicate balance between two opposing perspectives or “sides”. These dueling perspectives are called binary oppositions. It is common to see in movies a long list of binary oppositions that eventually get resolved through the appearance of a new situation(s), character(s), etc. This new situation or character diverts energy from the initial binary oppositions and shifts the focus from the previous binary oppositions to a new set of binary oppositions. I have analyzed two movies in which this phenomena is prevalent, one American and one Korean.
The American-made movie Crimson Tide, starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, has a long list of binary oppositions, including captain versus executive officer, veteran vs. amateur and even black versus white. These contrast with the binary oppositions in the Korean movie Welcome to Dongmakgol which serve more to emphasize the eventual friendship between the characters. This union of two opposite “sides” is created through the resolution of the oppositions which appears in Crimson Tide as well. Both of these films have a common theme of two former enemies who unite together as a single unit, however briefly, against a new common enemy. In Crimson Tide, there is an underlying tension between the two main characters, both commanding officers on a United States nuclear missile submarine. This tension does not come to the surface, much like the actual submarine, until the overlying situation becomes dire and the two characters are forced to interact on a level neither is truly comfortable with. They struggle for power against each other even in the face of a new enemy, Russian rebel forces, and their situation does not come to resolution until the very end of the movie in which the overlying conflict has been resolved. ‘And if ever a picture crackled, "Crimson Tide" fits the description. Crisp as the creases in its naval officers' uniforms, this tale of seething conflicts aboard an American submarine on the eve of nuclear war is strictly by-the-numbers, but hardly ever are traditional elements executed with such panache’ (Turan). In contrast, in Welcome to Dongmakgol, there are not two distinct characters but two distinct “sides”, who upon meeting each other immediately try to kill each other. So even in the first introductory scene to Welcome to Dongmakgol, it is evident to the audience that there is an open air of hostility between the two sides. However, this tension and aggressive tone is suppressed upon the realization of a new common enemy, the Americans who are trying to kill innocent people. They are not revealed as an antagonistic group until the resolution of the movie.
These movies both have a very unique theme in that most war films usually have some sort of resolution between a clear protagonist and a clear antagonist whereas both Welcome to Dongmakgol and Crimson Tide cause the viewer to question who to side with throughout the movie. Only in the end of the movie(s) is it clear which “side” was in the right.

The characters created by the actors in both movies are also rich with under-the-surface personality disorders and ulterior motives that only help elaborate the binary oppositions throughout both films. In Crimson Tide, Captain Ramsey is an arrogant, chauvinistic elitist whose stubborn refusal to back down from his position emphasizes his character’s personality flaws. This is continually evident by his constant confrontations with Lieutenant Commander Hunter, a reasonable, charming leader who is just as stubborn as Captain Ramsey and determined to do his duty to humanity as well as the United States of America. “Brash, handsome, brilliant, loyal till he reaches his breaking point: anyone familiar with smash-hit Cruise films of the last decade knows this drill (Maslin)”. “Right from their initial meeting, the best kind of movie tension, a combination of distaste and respect, bubbles up between the captain and his executive officer. Ramsey, a seat-of-the-pants combat veteran, distrusts Hunter's book learning while the younger man, though irked at being continually needled, comes to understand that the captain really does care for his men (Turan)”. Each character’s refusal to back down in the face of the other intensifies the claustrophobic, paranoid atmosphere that would exist regardless on a submarine but is brought out even more by the tension of nuclear war. “The chemistry between Hackman and Washington, while kept basically predictable, is still full of tension and repressed anger as the characters are forced to maintain a surface civility despite an obvious dislike underneath (Null)”. “Their conflict is, naturally, the best element in the movie (Howe)”. Their continual clashes of personality bring out emotion from the audience and force them to pick a side. The characters personalities, rather than bouncing off each other, serve to build up the tension to an almost unbearable level.

In Welcome to Dongmakgol, Yeo-il is a mentally challenged, sweet, innocent girl who ultimately pays for the sins of the soldiers in Dongmakgol. Rhee Soo-hwa is a North Korean commanding soldier whose empathy and protective nature conflict with his duty as a soldier. Pyo Hyun-chul is first seen as a suicidal, troubled man. Only later in the movie is it revealed what his nightmares are about. At first the conflicting natures of the characters on either side create a binary opposition of North versus South. There is also the more subtle conflict between the soldiers and the villagers of modern society versus old fashioned living.
At first, these binary oppositions steal the focus of the audience. However, later on in Welcome to Dongmakgol, the conflicting directives of the North Korean soldiers and the South Korean soldiers become resolved as they divert their energy away from the dualism between them towards a new hidden enemy. In truth, the character differences between the soldiers begin to settle and the characters start to build one another up and the binary oppositions are eliminated as they work together to protect the villagers.
Although Crimson Tide and Welcome to Dongmakgol share many similarities in plot, their binary oppositions are vastly different. Crimson Tide’s binary oppositions focus more on a power struggle that keeps resurfacing despite the distractions of war. Both characters keep trying to put aside their differences so that they can focus on their jobs and duty, however, ultimately this leads to a heated mutiny with a sub-surface personality clash as well. Both characters inability to resolve their differences early on due to pride and the power struggle force them to try and resolve them later in the movie in a much more dangerous and risky way. They each use the mutiny to their advantage to tip the scales of the binary oppositions in their favor. Welcome to Dongmakgol’s binary oppositions are much more clear-cut and evident. They revolve around the hostility between the two sides and the much more subtle difference between the modern world’s rough edges and danger and Dongmakgol’s cheerful naivety and innocence.