Toronto Film Festival 2024 Film Review

Political thrillers are, by nature, tales of espionage and edge-of-your-seat tension. I feel you cannot have one without the other. Kim Jee-Woon‘s The Age of Shadows showcases this expertly. It is a great film with many twists and turns and moments of unnerving tension. However, how does this relate to Woo Min-ho’s latest film, Harbin? Well, like The Age of Shadows, it follows the resistance movement in Korea as they strive for Korean independence and deals with the espionage surrounding that movement. On paper, it is very similar, but in execution, Harbin is what happens when you forget to include edge-of-your-seat tension in your political thriller.

Harbin follows Ahn Jung-Geun (Hyun Bin) in Korea in 1906, which is under Japanese rule as one of Japan’s colonies. Ahn is part of the Korean independence movement, working to achieve Korean independence. He devises a plan that could change the course of events: he aims to assassinate Japan’s Prime Minister, Itō Hirobumi. Ahn intends to carry out this plan in Harbin, which is in Russian territory.

The opening shot of Harbin is an extremely lavish and hypnotic way to start the film, featuring Ahn Jung-Geun walking on ice that appears ready to crack at any moment. The blue tone of the endless ice contrasts perfectly with Ahn, who stands out as a dark and lonely figure. In a way, a man walking on ice serves as a powerful metaphor for the struggle for independence—one small mistake can cause you to crack and fall in. This notion that a single error can mean the difference between freedom and capture or death should be filled with tension. However, it is not.

Harbin lacks tension, which in turn means it lacks bite. Many scenes that should be edge-of-your-seat nerve-wrackers end up feeling neutered. Early on, there is a train scene where we are introduced to the assassination plan. The conductor informs a Japanese officer on the train that there are three people in the cabin speaking Korean. The hook for the tension is the looming threat of the Japanese soldiers coming in. However, what we get is merely a scene of our characters talking. There is no sense of impending dread or fear. This lack of fear early on affects the entire film; as we approach the titular assassination, what should be tense instead feels underwhelming. I should have been on the edge of my seat in nervous anticipation, but instead, I am merely leaning forward.

It is a shame because Woo Min-ho creates a film that is technically well-crafted, offering a visual and auditory feast. The action set pieces are both brutal and realistic. As our characters become unflinching in their violence, murdering Japanese individuals for the future of their country, the intensity is palpable. This is complemented by a score that ranges from chaotic and violent to calm and eloquent. Even during the scenes of barbaric fighting, Woo Min-ho strives to infuse a sense of humanity into the soldiers. This is evident when Ahn Jung-Geun hesitates to kill the prisoners, a nuance rarely seen in film.

Harbin is, to me, a disappointment. It is not a bad film—far from it. However, it should have been the 2020s’ The Age of Shadows, a tense and thrilling political thriller for the ages. Instead, it is a very well-made and well-acted film that lacks tension. What frustrates me the most is the potential for greatness that it squanders.