R-Point

R-Point
Theatrical poster
Hangul	알 포인트
Revised Romanization	Al pointeu
McCune–Reischauer	Al p'oint'ŭ
Directed by	Kong Su-chang
Written by	Kong Su-chang
Produced by	Choi Kang-hyeok Chang Yoon-hyun
Starring	Kam Woo-sung Son Byong-ho Oh Tae-kyung Park Won-sang Lee Sun-kyun Ahn Nae-sang Kim Byeong-cheol Jeon Kyeong-ho Mun Yeong-dong
Cinematography	Seok Hyeong-jing
Edited by	Nam Na-yeong
Music by	Pitch Present's Dalpalan, Bang Jun-seok, Jang Young-gyu, and Lee Byung-hoon
Distributed by	Cinema Service
Release date	13 August 2004 (2004-08-13)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Box office	$6.7 million

R-Point (Korean: 알 포인트) is a 2004 South Korean psychological horror war film written and directed by Kong Su-chang. Set in Vietnam in 1972, during the Vietnam War, it stars Kam Woo-sung and Son Byong-ho as members of the South Korean Army in Vietnam. Most of the movie was shot in Cambodia. Bokor Hill Station plays a prominent part of the movie, in this case doubling as a French colonial plantation. In 2011, Palisades Tartan re-released this film on DVD under the title Ghosts of War.

Plot

In January 1972, at a South Korean base in Nha Trang, Vietnam, a missing platoon sent a radio transmission from R-Point, a strategic island near Saigon. Lieutenant Choi receives orders to lead a squad, including Sergeant Jin Chang-rok, on a mission to extract the missing soldiers within a week. In return, they will receive an early honorable discharge and a clean record for Choi, who had previously shown insubordination.

Upon arrival at R-Point, the squad is ambushed by a Vietnamese woman and discovers a week-old corpse. The next day, a mysterious, deserted French Plantation appears near their base. Corporal Joh Byung-hoon gets separated from the group and encounters other soldiers, mistaking them for his unit. When he reunites with his comrades, he shares his sighting of the missing soldiers, but they dismiss his claims.

Later, while repairing the radio, Corporal Byun Moon-Sub intercepts a transmission from a nearby French unit. A French army corporal named Jacques claims to have a twin brother named Paul, raising suspicions as their squad is the only one present. That night, American soldiers arrive and warn the Koreans about supernatural forces in the plantation's second floor, cautioning them not to touch anything.

As the soldiers celebrate with a radio dance party, they suddenly hear terrified screams recorded on the radio. On the second day, they find Private Jung's hanging corpse and report the incident to headquarters, only to learn that Private Jung was one of the missing soldiers they were sent to rescue. Lieutenant Choi begins experiencing visions of the Viet Cong woman who had ambushed their platoon.

Sergeant Oh encounters the ghost of his deceased friend, panics, and accidentally falls into a booby trap, resulting in his death. The unit divides into two groups on the fourth day, discovering a crashed Huey helicopter with decomposed American corpses, revealing that the soldiers they previously encountered were ghosts. Mistaking Sergeant Mah for a ghost, a terrified Corporal Joh accidentally shoots and kills him.

Returning to the plantation, they search for American supplies on the second floor but find it deserted, confirming the presence of supernatural entities. Realizing that R-Point is haunted, they call for rescue, but the earliest helicopter can only arrive by dawn the next day. Sergeant Jin seemingly returns, warns against their presence at R-Point, and beheads Sergeant Park before being shot by the soldiers. Lieutenant Choi orders everyone to verify their identities.

Corporal Byun, seemingly possessed, is shot by Lieutenant Choi but not before pulling the pin from a grenade, blinding Sergeant Jang. As the lieutenant tends to Sergeant Jang, Corporal Joh, also possessed, shoots Corporal Lee. Lieutenant Choi kills Corporal Joh, leaving only the two of them. In Sergeant Jang's pocket, they find a photo of French soldiers with the Viet Cong woman, revealing her responsibility for the deaths of the French garrison and the American soldiers.

Lieutenant Choi then instructs Sergeant Jang to aim his rifle at him and fire, knowing he might be possessed. The next morning, the rescue team finds Sergeant Jang alone but the bodies of all the other eight soldiers formerly along with Sergeant Jang are gone and all bloodsheds somehow vanish when the rescue team arrives.

At a completely abandoned base, a radio transmission from Lieutenant Choi could be heard, requesting reinforcements as they are desperate and at the brink of their KIA as well as claiming they are not dead.

Cast

• Kam Woo-sung as Lt. Choi Tae-in
• Son Byong-ho as Sgt. Jin Chang-rok
• Park Won-sang as Sergeant Cook
• Lee Sun-kyun as Sergeant Park
• Oh Tae-kyung as Sergeant Jang Young-soo
• Son Jin-ho as Sergeant Oh
• Mun Yeong-dong as Corporal Byun Moon-sub
• Jung Kyung-ho as Corporal Lee Jae-pil
• Kim Byeong-cheol as Corporal Joh Byung-hoon
• Gi Ju-bong as Captain Park
• Ahn Nae-sang as Captain Kang

Release

Marketing

Before the film was released, the film makers conducted viral marketing to promote the film. The official website, www.rpoint.com, carried several fictional articles such as a journal written by an American war correspondent, statements made by various soldiers who witnessed events portrayed in the film, radio transmissions supposedly received by Korean soldiers, Internet news links about missing Korean soldiers in Vietnam and a fictional timeline of R-Point.

Reception

R-Point receives mixed reviews, with the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes offers as "Rotten" a score of 55% from 11 critics, and a rating average of 6.11 out of 10.

Awards and nominations

2004 Blue Dragon Film Awards

• Nomination - Best Supporting Actor - Son Byong-ho
• Nomination - Best New Director - Kong Su-chang

2004 Korean Film Awards

• Nomination - Best Supporting Actor - Son Byong-ho
• Nomination - Best New Director - Kong Su-chang

2005 Grand Bell Awards

• Best Sound - Kang Joo-seok, Lead Sound
• Nomination - Best New Director - Kong Su-chang

See also

• Korean horror

External links

• R-Point at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
• R-Point at IMDb
• R-Point at HanCinema
• IGN R-Point Review
• R-POINT (2004; DVD Review)