Nationalism as a Virus

In the South Korean film Taegukgi, The Brotherhood of War, directed by Kang Je-gyu, depicts the story of two brothers who are engulfed into the outbreak of the Korean War.  Watching this film, I couldn’t help but see how nationalism played out as an instrument for bio-politics in the film.  At the beginning of the film, the two were presented as good and honest individuals with the older brother making a living by shining other people’s shoes and the younger one studying hard for college.  Their life takes a drastic turn in the outbreak of the Korean War and from a series of events, both are drafted into the army to face the communist side of Korea.  It is then, the audience are introduced to this environment where their bodies are exposed to a form of population control by means of establishing nationalism.  One great example could be noted on examining how the soldiers are fed and ultimately controlled by their food supply.  The major driving force of this group of soldiers that allowed the attack which granted the older brother a medal, was that they were on the brink of starvation.  Thus, when their attack succeeded and were rewarded accordingly, some changes become evident especially with the older brother in which he seems to be starting to enjoy being regarded as a hero for his recklessness in duty.  Also from this point on, resentment towards the communist Koreans become very explicit to the point that one point, the older brother regarded a familiar face as a complete enemy despite the situation explaining that the POW’s position was no different than the two brothers.  And given the last appearance of the older brother being depicted as this mindless killing machine, Nationalism seems to act as this form virus that eats away at one’s sense of self and transforms the body into a machine that just runs on the instruction of the country.