Swing Kids | K-Drama | A Movie Gem But Hard to Watch

Swing Kids is a Korean drama movie based on the Korean musical “Rho Ki-Soo,” written by Jang Woo-Sung, about prisoners of war in the Geoje POW camp. 

This camp held North Korean and Chinese prisoners who were captured by UN forces during the Korean War (1950–1953).  The camp is real but the characters are fictional.

This film was hard to watch because it was painfully realistic.  In fact, the only time you felt a little bit of happiness or relief, was when they were dancing.

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When is a movie a gem?

A “gem” is a film or series that somehow slipped under my K-drama radar, and was discovered accidentally.  ‘Swing Kids’ is a K-drama movie musical, released in 2018.  Not sure why but ‘Swing Kids’ is not available in the USA via Netflix. However, it is available on Amazon Prime, Rakuten Viki, and YouTube.  Plus you can watch it free on Tubi with ads, which is where I accidentally discovered it. 

If this movie musical slipped under my radar, it is likely it has gone unnoticed by many K-drama fans.  This movie is a “gem” because the scriptwriters addressed the pain and injury caused by the horror of war, divisive political differences, and racism; and told the stories of 4 different people, all the while using an awesome soundtrack and fabulous dance moves.  The POW camp is a real historical place and even though the stories are fiction, the actors portrayed the characters so well that you wanted to believe they were real people. 

Why ‘Swing Kids’ was hard to watch

First: The American commander, Brigadier General Roberts (played by Ross Kettle), was a moron! He was arrogant, manipulative, stupid, and racist! He ordered one of his subordinates to teach some POWs how to tap dance. By his logic, this was “proof” that deep down in their hearts, those “yellow gooks” really wanted to be Westernized.

Second: Jackson is an American soldier (played by Jared Grimes). He was a black man who used to be a tap dancer on Broadway. He wanted to be reassigned to another post. The commander ordered him to be a tap dance teacher. The order was enough for him to obey. But he was also “promised” that he would get a transfer from Korea IF he succeeded.

Third: There were four (4) people who were willing to learn how to tap dance. These four (4) people could have had a wonderful life, were it not for the war caused by “ideology”. If you have an ounce of human compassion, your heart will bleed for each of them. The prisoners each had their own reasons for wanting to learn how to tap dance.

1. Yang Pan-Rae (played by Park Hye-Soo) ~ She was not a prisoner in the camp but was alone in the world because both of her parents had died. She learned to speak different languages, including English, and volunteered to serve as a translator for the American soldier. She hoped to go live in America.
2. Xiaofang (played by Kim Min-Ho) ~ is a Chinese soldier who would have become a brilliant choreographer if it were not for the war. He may never achieve his dream of becoming a choreographer. But he could dream a little, by learning to tap dance.
3. Kang Byung-Sam (played by Oh Jung-Se) ~ is a South Korean, who was thrown into prison because he had been falsely accused of being a communist sympathizer. As a result, he became separated from his wife. He hoped that if he became famous his wife would be able to find him.
4. Rho Ki-Soo (played by Do Kyung-Soo) ~ is a North Korean “hero of the people”. He saw the American soldier tap dancing and desperately wanted to learn. But how could he learn that Yankee dance? How could he even want to learn? It meant he would be looked upon by his fellow North Koreans as a traitor! And yet … he really wanted to learn how to tap dance!

As a fellow human being, you felt a connection with both the dancers and the teacher. You really hoped for a happy ending for the dancers. No spoilers, but the way how the movie ended broke my heart.

FUN FACT: “Swing Kids has been listed on the top 5 dance movies alongside legends like the Hollywood movies, ‘Chicago’ and ‘Happy Feet’ and the first ever Korean movie in history granted to use the Beatles song “Free as a bird” as part of the movie soundtrack.” (Quote source)