A whirlwind of events that happened during nine hours on some winter day, rushing through and to the ending that we already know for two-and-a-half hours. AND I could not take my eyes off for one second, and those two hours felt like a glimpse of a moment.

Chronologically perfect organization makes complicated events compact and clear. The plot is a spider web; everything is connected to everything, and there is no leap of logic from one event to another. At first, I was worried that all members of Hanahoe getting their moment would muddle the main narrative and obscure strong message. However, how it is executed from the director is just perfection: perfect structure and system. Moreover, because '12.12: The Day' extends the focus from Jeon Du-Hwan alone to Hanahoe, the message becomes stronger and more relevant. Villainizing one person is not enough; the problem lies deep in the rooted corrupt system. Jeon is gone, but Hanahoe in all kinds of forms still exist in today's society.

Hats off to how the director portrays the ending. Lee tae-shin is not described as a loser, but Jeon is as history would tell the story to the next generations.

Lighting plays an important role in the whole movie. 12.12 happens from 7pm to 4am next day. Lights at night from all kinds of sources like lamp posts, headlights from the tanks, old light bulbs in the old building, and even cigarette lights emanate a different atmosphere in different situations. Jeon hides from the light by turning off the lightbulb right when the most important conversation of his life is happening. Lee walks into the light with hundreds of searchlights pointing at him with utmost confidence and grace at the end.

The only weakness of '12. 12: The Day' is that I could not handle myself being outraged and suffocated so often that I had to check my blood pressure and to distance myself from the film from time to time.

*Jung Woo-sung finally meets THE one. His best performance, the best character that embodies actor Jung Woo-Sung. It is every Korean director's wish to portray the best version of Jung, and Kim Sung-soo achieved that goal.

Based on true events, 12.12: The Day, released in the end of Nov 2023 and has very quickly become the highest grossing film of the year over there; will likely end up being the best Korean film of 2023 as well. It has broken into the top 9 of all-time Korean box office.

12.12: The Day is a historical action drama set in 1979. Following the assassination of President Park in, military factions wrestle for control during a violent coup in this tense South Korea. The film focusses on the 12 December 1979 military coup and the related conflict between the military leaders. If you've watched the film 'A Taxi Driver', the Gwangju uprising depicted in it was a response to the military coup in 'The Day'

If you like military/war dramas or political thrillers, you have GOT to watch this film. The cast did a stellar job of conveying the sense of urgency and turmoil in a nation's trying times. I don't know enough Korean history, but based on the plot of the film, there are clear protagonists and antagonists; the plot is written so well, the scheming is SO convincing, the idiots are such idiots played so well, that you want the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose even if you don't know the language and not relate to the national story being told.

The film is brilliantly shot, and the sound design deserves special mention for keeping the intensity and the sense of urgency high throughout the film. It takes off in the first five minutes and there are no lows in the film after that. Sit down, buckle up and you're in for a thrilling ride. As someone who didn't know the history behind the events, the destination of this ride was.... anticlimactic but because these are real events, it added a certain value to my viewing experience. Don't miss this one.

As a korean, we learned that coup happend 12.12..1979. But we didn't learn that how they did it and the story how we lost against traiters. But this movie showed the time line based on fact.

So it was interesting even though we knew the fact. All actors especially hwang's acting is really amazing.

I also had some imagination . If we prevent coup. Korea could start democracy early. And won't be happen in gwangju disaster.

Also seeing this movie, commander's role is really important when things happen.

If we had a wise commander in army. We could have blocked it and won it. It is really sad

and reminds me that good leader doesn't come. When we need. We must choose good leader by using our right with right decision.