Okay, let’s set the scene: it is the early 1990s, and conflict is afoot in Somalia. The Barre government continues to be in power, but a well armed rebel force is slowly encroaching on the capital city of Mogadishu. It is in this jarring upheaval that both the South and North Korean governments have turned to Somalia for assistance with entry into the United Nations. This is the harrowing subject of the 2021 historical action drama, Escape from Mogadishu.
Directed by Ryoo Seung-wan, he expertly paints a vivid picture – stunning locales (mostly Morocco – a striking stand-in that feels wholly alive), politically savvy and inexperienced characters, as well as very real civil unrest litter this narrative. The South Korean embassy is led by ambassador Han Shin-sung (Kim Yoon-seok), while its Northern counterparts follow ambassador Rim Yong-su (Joon-ho Huh). Filled with lobbying, sabotage, and subterfuge, clearly nothing is considered stooping too low – think armed robbery, unsubstantiated arms dealings claims, etc. Even fresh off the plane South Korean intelligence officer Kang Dae-jin (Zo In-sung), who is transporting a special delivery, is fair game in this heated tête-à-tête.
Things quickly escalate, with violent riots being met with equally brutal responses from the Barre military. Further complicating things, phones are down and there are no good lines of communication with their governments back home, meaning that both embassies are left to fend for themselves in this collapsing country. It is no surprise then that with civil unrest arises a rather blatant disregard for etiquette and protocol when it comes to the sovereignty of embassy soil – with the North Koreans quickly being attacked, looted, and booted out of their seemingly safe abode.
Stuck in the bullet and body strewn streets, they look for somewhere to turn, eventually finding themselves trapped in front of their rivals still protected embassy. A question for the ages, ambassador Han must contemplate whether to save the lives of their communist adversaries, or leave them unprotected. . . likely to die.
His good nature getting the best of him (much to the chagrin of some of his underlings), he allows them into the embassy. . . deciding that their best chance of survival might be to pool resources by using their very different diplomatic influences to find a way out of the war-torn country. Though it won’t be easy, for cultures will clash inside while the civil war will crash outside.
With a narrative transition that slowly flows from political power moves to simply trying to survive, it is an intriguing palette to unpack – the latter never truly eradicating the former, with paranoia (often with good reason) seeping into the consciousness of both sides. Why would they invite us into their embassy? Might they be trying to trick us into defecting from North Korea? Could it be a ploy for positive PR back in the South? Will they kill us in our sleep?
Eventually though, the two groups have to start to work together – a distressing four vehicle drive through the unruly streets of Mogadishu to reach another embassy the only possible move (and quite the climax, I must say). Bulletproofing their cars with books, bags of dirt, and other miscellaneous items found in the embassy, it is like a more grounded Mad Max style chase, unbelievably visceral and visual, a tense, terse journey where neither government forces nor rebel fighters are friends. With elements of hide and seek, traps and chases, brains, bullets and bravery, there is a little bit of everything in this sequence. And, on a different note, it is the type of thing that can only bring people together, despite ideology. . . though those who survive will likely have to go back to the games they played just a few weeks earlier – it sometimes feels like quite the strange and perplexing world.
A film in the mould of Hotel Rwanda and Argo, Escape from Mogadishu is a visually ambitious, gritty retelling of a tense moment in South Korean and Somalian history (even though some liberties were obviously taken). There are also a few sharp moments of humour, a nice touch for such an intense story. So, please don’t escape from watching this intriguing South Korean feature, it’s surely a drive you won’t forget.
This film is in Korean with English subtitles