From Korea to Manchuria

                Both Pak in “Escape” and Yun Tae-Gu (Song Kang-Ho) ran from Korea to Manchuria in order to look for a better life. However, neither found what they were looking for. Pak writes he brought his mother and wife to Manchuria in search for a more prosperous life, but he ended up running away from them to join the regiment, abandoning his family and leaving them to starve. Such as how Pak never got away from poverty, Tae-Gu never got away from the life he had back in Korea either. He ran to Manchuria to escape his old life as the Finger-Chopper, but ended up followed by two people who were trying to hunt down the Finger-Chopper, albeit only Park Chang-Yi (Lee Byung-Hun) knew who he initially. Furthermore, both tales end the same way. Pak reaches a point where he believes it is the end, and he ends up escaping—hopefully to truly change his life. Tae-Gu, too, reaches a climax where he is in a gun fight with Chang-Yi and Park Do-Won (Jung Woo-Sung). Then he escapes, presumably to start fresh. However, we know that at the end of The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), that he cannot accomplish this because Do-Won continues to chase him.

                In addition, both Pak and Tae-Gu can be seen as fools. Pak is berated by his friend Kim for abandoning his family. Tae-Gu is clearly “the Weird,” and is shown in the film to be a bumbling idiot who seems to survive more through luck than by skill. However, their intentions, if not a little misguided, are inherently good. Pak wants to change the oppressive system, while Tae-Gu wants to stop being as cruel as he used to be. Despite this, at the end they it seems unlikely for both of them to be able to truly change. Pak will continue to toil, just in the army, while his family continues to starve. And with Do-Won on his trail, Tae-Gu most likely will have to continue running, stealing, and leading the life of a criminal. They both left Korea to Manchuria only to find themselves in the exact place where they started.