Review of "Friends", the best film at the Korea Youth Dragon Awards: A lifetime together, those days are no more

This is a fan's appointment about friendship, about childhood, and how we all have our own perceptions. What can we expect to see about this Korean Best Film at the Blue Dragon Awards?
The people are difficult to govern because they know a lot
This is a quote from the Tao Te Ching, and it is also helpful for us to look at the bouts of pain that come with growing up. Why are the feelings of childhood so memorable? One word to explain it, because of innocence and knowing little. One word to explain it - foolishness.
Seeing because you believe.
The world as it is, is cold, superiority and inferiority, the big fish eat the small fish, heaven and earth are unkind and take all things as ruminants. The reason why people, unlike animals, have a consensus is because they have a mind. If they are savage to each other, no one can escape being eaten.
With such a culture, it is the children who are most receptive to domestication. Hang on to the hook, for a hundred years, no change. We've all played it and we've all believed it.
But as we slowly grow up, the limited resources and unlimited desires force us to accept reality. Just like in the film, the first time there is discord is because of a beautiful woman - Jeong-sook.
Gaming because you know more
The little ones are confronted with the limited resources and a conflict arises. Just like in high school, those hardened friends who prided themselves on their righteousness for a thousand years would fight over girls.
There are more and more cases that keep reminding us growing up that friendship, can't be relied upon.
Jang Dong-gun plays Dong-joo, a very sensitive kid with a strong sense of self-esteem. The huge contrast between his own abilities and his humble origins makes Dong-ju unusually rebellious and violent.
The boss, Joon-suk, is a kid who grew up with the golden key, unaware that his status has little to do with his ability to fight, but comes from his family's background - a gangster's dad.
But these disparities, at a young age, are overshadowed by the child's innocence and the gap in his background behind him. When Dong-ju is angered by Joon-suk because of his girlfriend, Dong-ju wants to use his fists but holds back, both because Joon-suk is his friend and because of his concern for Joon-suk's powerful backstory.
But all this goodness can only stay in the young stage, into adulthood, it's a different story.
Do not realise what you can desire, so that the people's hearts will not be disturbed
This saying is wisdom from the Tao Te Ching, but it is far from reality.
Because there are so many things to desire, Dongzhu's heart is in turmoil. Why should I only be the second oldest? Why does my father have to do such a menial job? When will I get ahead if I don't get to the top?
So, looking at the film from the perspective of the Tao Te Ching, everything is inevitable. Where there is injustice, there is instability.
And all this, Jun Suk, who was born with the golden key, doesn't understand. His natural position makes Jun Suk think, "Aren't you supposed to be my little brother? I'll stand up for you, how strong is this friendship?
Only what Joon-suk doesn't know is what he can't give Dong-ju - dignity.
Can friendship live on?
Why can Joon Suk and the first-place San Tae have a long-lasting friendship? Because they both eat from two worlds. One goes white, the other goes black, and they can still bless each other a little.
Why can Joon-suk and San-tae, who came first, become true friends? Sympathy for each other. Two of the best from different worlds, neither needs to beat the other to gain respect, so there is no conflict.
And can you see Junsuk's respect for the last of the four friends, the little man Yung Ho, who is nothing more than a minor character to make everyone laugh? Can you see Shantae's cherished respect? No.
Dong-ju's problem is that he is on the same track as Joon-suk. Either you are willing to be a minor character like Yong-ho, or you have to be stronger than Joon-suk, otherwise you are only a supporting character.
Friendship, the only possibility for longevity is - similar social status.
Joon-suk and Dong-ju, neither can be a king
Both of them have their own flaws.
Joon-suk is a kind-hearted child at heart, because of his origins, so that he acts in a way that must be worthy of the family's glory. This is evident from the first time Joon-suk and San-tae have a drink.
Joon-suk is still explaining that the gang is not what people think it is and is mercilessly dismissed by San-tae. The fragile mentality that made Jun Suk break down in the end is a side note to the truth - there are only three generations of the rich.
A rich generation tends to naturally educate the next generation in orthodoxy, benevolence, righteousness, rituals and faith. Just like many people who are socially mixed up, they will also tell their children to study well. Many children then really believe in it. The problem is that your family tradition cannot afford this.
That's why there are always children from wealthy families who are particularly conscientious instead, because he is well clothed and fed, and all he thinks about all day is Confucian rituals and laws. What he doesn't know is that the family's good clothes and food ensure that he can seek the Way.
The child, on the other hand, has to destroy this with his own hands because these means of getting rich are at odds with his ideal world, and he did not get his own good clothes and food by moral self-discipline.
Dong-ju, on the other hand, is a self-respecting person who wants to save face and whose dignity is more valuable than anything else. Why is it that children from poor families are bigoted, because of injustice, because of injustice, why are they born inferior to others, when they are so capable, that's why!
But then Dong-joo is at heart the same kind of person as Joon-suk. Because he has a proper father, he still has the beauty of benevolence in his heart. This is what made Dong-joo choose to let Joon-suk off the hook and send himself to the guillotine the last time they met.
The road to the king is devoid of warmth, which is why the emperors are called - widows.
Readers are a unique presence in Eastern culture
All things are inferior, but only reading is superior.
This is unthinkable in Western cultures. But in Eastern culture, the status of a scholar is so high that a scholar who is poor is called a man who is willing to be poor, and a man whose ambition is the world.
Even to be poor, a scholar is justifiably poor.
So the friendship between Junsuk and Shantae is a unique product of Eastern culture. In Western culture, Shan Tai was at best a lawyer loyal to the Junsuk family, and nothing more.
But in Joon-suk's eyes, and indeed in the eyes of Joon-suk's father, San-tae is the kid who comes first in the exams, and to be friends with such a kid is an honour for the whole family and proves that Joon-suk is great too.
And Dong-joo and the little man Yong-ho are nothing more than the A, B and C of society, with you no more, without you no less.
The beauty of culture - powerful.
Epilogue
Friends go together for life, those days are no more.
Cherish the friends you have now, in this increasingly lonely society, everyone needs warmth.
Seeing through gives you ease, holding on gives you strength.
It's up to you, the judge, to decide.