Mark Reviews Movies: ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 5, 2021

The best way to describe the philosophy of Escape from Mogadishu is that it's pragmatically optimistic. People are people, so they will fight—about politics, one's country, economics, philosophy, whatever other differences any individual people or groups of them may have. That's a sad fact, proven by ages of history and plenty of modern-day examples.

If that's case, though, what can and does unite humanity? This film, based on a true story, focuses on at least one significant answer to that question, and if the acknowledgment of conflict between people is the pragmatic part of the film's outlook, the optimistic side is that there exists at least one answer to the fundamental needs and desires of human beings. If that answer exists, there must be more, and even if there aren't additional ones, maybe this answer is and could be enough.

In case the title doesn't make it clear, writer/director Ryoo Seung-wan's film is a tale of survival, in which diplomats and their families must find a way out of Somalia, as a civil war erupts in that country. There's some room for concern here, since the story is dealing with a real-life event, still ongoing to this day, and is specifically focused on a part of the world that has been—and still continues to be—exploited for an assortment of reasons. Does Ryoo actually care about the conflict in Somalia, or is it simply an excuse for something else?

Here, one must give the filmmaker some leeway, because the point, as counterintuitive as it may seem, isn't about the causes of a specific war. It's about the effects of conflict in general, seen both in the horrors of violence on the streets of Somalia's capital city and in the thinking of two feuding groups who happen to be in the city in December of 1990. They are united by geography, ethnicity, and at least some history, but the divides between the diplomats of South Korea and North Korea—living and working in Mogadishu—are deep and seemingly irreconcilable.

The film itself is a South Korean production, which is both sort of useless to mention (It'll likely be some time before anyone outside of North Korea is able to see the country's cinematic output) and, considering that Ryoo is invested in the lives and experiences of the characters from North Korea, a sign worthy of some optimism—pragmatically speaking, of course. In giving a voice and an almost equal standing to characters from South Korea's political and economic and geographic rival, his film actually lives up to the standard it wants to preach.

Our story begins with a brief history of Somalia and of, at the time, the separate campaigns of both Korean countries to become members of the United Nations. Their diplomatic missions in Somalia, a country under the one-party rule of President Mohamed Siad Barre, could be the key to obtaining the votes required for UN membership.

We meet South Korean ambassador Han Shin-sung (Kim Yoon-seok) and an intelligence counselor from Seoul named Kang Dae-jin (Zo In-sung), who has come from South Korea with gifts for the Somali president. Meanwhile, the North Korean counterparts of the two men—ambassador Rim Yong-su (Huh Joon-ho) and counselor Tae Joon-ki (Koo Kyo-hwan)—are working to get their own meetings with the president, sabotaging the South Korean efforts in the process.

Conflict arises elsewhere in the country. Peaceful and violent protests against Barre's regime break out in Mogadishu, and embassies from around the world arrange transport out of Somalia. With communications disrupted at both Korean embassies, representatives of both countries appear to be trapped amidst an increasingly violent and bloody war.

All of this could be the foundation for plenty of action. It eventually does become that, but until the rather outlandish but still viscerally exciting climax, Ryoo insists on grounding this story in the helpless terror of the situation and, gradually, the difficult compromise that Han and Rim must make, in order to ensure that their colleagues, friends, and families will find a way out of Somalia.

There is plenty of horror on display, from the sound of gunfire in the distance to mass executions in the streets. While one could easily—and, in some regard, rightly—claim that Ryoo is exploiting the civil war in Somalia to one degree or another, the story eventually distances itself enough from the history and politics of the conflict that it—for better and for worse—becomes the backdrop for a different human drama.

That one involves the two diplomatic parties—living together in the South Korean embassy and using their separate contacts to find a way for both groups to escape—battling paranoia, trying to put aside foundational disagreements, and attempting to assuage fears that one side might use this situation as political leverage in order to accomplish that most instinctual of human impulses: to survive. Ryoo is wise enough to make this negotiation a difficult process, fraught with suspicions (The North Koreans won't eat until their hosts prove the food isn't poisoned), attempted betrayals, and political conflicts that need to be put aside. As Han discovers when the North Koreans are refused a flight from one his contacts, matters of conscience and basic decency are more important than whatever fight their countries may have.

This is a smart and thoughtful film about diplomacy and what unites people, beyond considerable conflict and petty squabbles. The final notes of Escape from Mogadishu are equally, if distinctly, wise. The story may be encouraging, but as the reality outside unification for survival emerges, the film ultimately suggests that the best we might be able to hope for is optimistic pragmatism.

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