GO GO 70’s (Korea, 2008)
Directed by: Choi Ho
Starring: Jo Seung-woo, Cha Seung-woo, Shin Min-ah

Dateline, Korea. January, 1972.  Groove is definitely not in the heart of the South Korean government.  Suffocated by relentless modernization and unctuous newsreels warning, "Do not eat if you do not want to work," Korean youth are left with little to jam to other than soppy ballads cranked out by aging propagandists.  "We're under martial law," one reporter sighs. "Pop culture's all frozen up."  And frozen pop culture tastes terrible, even if you zap it in the microwave.  Yet there is hope, passion, and above all, soul...in Seoul.  Our deliverers?  The Devils.  Rising from the murky underbelly of American G.I. bars, demolishing conformity with the power of funk, this real life Korean "go-go" band rocked out for eight years and four albums, sonic revolutionaries for turbulent times and GO GO '70s is their sweet, sweet story.

Vain Sang-Gyu (Jo Seung-Woo, MARATHON) and chilled-out Man-Sik (Cha Seung-Woo) have had enough of playing phonetic country music covers to half-drunk U.S. troops.  Devoted Girl Friday, Mimi (Shin Min-Ah), is sick of seducing officers so Sang-Gyu can steal their LPs.  What they take away from their predominantly African-American crowds is a keen appreciation for something the soldiers call "soul music."  Soon, Sang-Gyu, Man-Sik and company have formed The Devils and are taking Seoul by storm, performing past curfew to sold-out crowds and running afoul of The Man.  “Thoughtless dance maniacs must be punished," the newsreel thunders, and the Devils find themselves in an anti-decadence gulag, naming names under torture of other "pot-smokers" like Jimi Hendrix.  The spirit of Korean soul doesn't die easy, however, and before the '70s are over, the Devils will groove into the history books or die trying.

A slice of real life history, GO GO '70s pulses with raw funk, refusing to succumb to Hollywood biopic cliche.  Choi Ho (BLOODY TIE) keeps the focus on the interpersonal dynamics and the draconian political climate of the time.  Jo Seung-Woo provides a courageously stormy picture of Sang-Gyu, whose ego tears the group asunder.  Real-life rocker Cha Seung-Woo gives an astonishing freshman turn as simple, music-loving Man-Sik, never putting a foot wrong, and as Mimi, Shin Min-Ah is a giddy revelation, going from unappreciated fangirl to strobe-lit soul sister, freaking out onstage like Tina Turner.  In GO GO '70s, emotion is music and music is politics. When the Devils hijack a government-sponsored folk singer's B-side, it's an ecstatic spurt of funk-punk terrorism.  You’ll be forgiven for getting a lump in your throat when Sang-Gyu screams, "We are all offenders of decadence!"  That's the power of soul.