[HanCinema's Film Review] "2 Doors"

Why do modern countries employ and outfit SWAT teams? The expense of the equipment is quite high, considering its quite rare for anyone to actually need a SWAT team. There's two explanations I can think of. First, to minimize the prospect of casualties in situations where the criminal suspects are armed. The second, to show those sickos who's boss. "2 Doors" is a documentary detailing the 2009 Yongsan tragedy- where the stated goal was the first, yet the results ended up turning in to the second.

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On a technical level the most darning indictment made by the documentary is that proper gear really doesn't matter if the guys running the show don't actually know what they're doing. As presented here, the police are genuinely well-meaning, but no one really seems to know the proper way to attack a watchtower where the suspects are armed. For that matter the police don't even communicate that well to each other what kind of weapons the suspects have- this ends up being really important.

The crime? Protestations over forced eviction, with the specific point being that the financial compensation was unreasonably low. From what we see it seems likely that the suspects in "2 Doors" probably could have been talked into surrendering, for less money and less tragic results than what happened with the SWAT team. This aspect of the case takes on particularly dark undertones when we consider that in early 2013 Seoul City passed a law stating that tenants can't be forced out of their homes anymore with no negotiation.

That's the point of "2 Doors" in broad perspective. This kind of tragedy is prompted not by the existence of clearly defined bad guys, but by poor communication. Neither the police nor the protestors knew what they were doing, and that's why the SWAT team escalation ended up going so poorly. The systematic detail "2 Doors" goes into about how everything devolved into such a huge mess is genuinely depressing in this light. The sheer level of documentation is what's so obviously troubling- that none of these problems were obvious to anyone at the time just seems inexplicable.

In present-day perspective it's easy enough to compare "2 Doors" to "The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol"- the two certainly seem to share continuity in regards to governmental incompetence. But don't be so rash as to assume this is just a Korean problem. Evidence for the dubious value of SWAT teams in actual practical contexts can be found in any country that employs them. This documentary is first and foremost a demand for standards, and a condemnation of those so brash as to play with fire.

By the end of the documentary, we find that some people do end up going to jail- probably not the ones you're expecting. But then that's the trouble with justice. The only reason the Yongsan tragedy was eventually resolved with satisfactory reform was because of people like director Kim Il-rhan, who refused to let the mismanagement get buried. In this way "2 Doors" transcends just being a factual, informative documentary. It also has a harsh, biting point that we should all take to heart regarding the next inevitable phase of governmental mismanagement.

Review by William Schwartz

"2 Doors" is directed by HONG Ji-you and Kim Il-rhan

 

Available on DVD from YESASIA

DVD (First Press Limited Edition) (En Sub)