Release date: March 2012
It is 1877 and political intrigue is about to begin for little Tanya when her father, a Korean national, is killed by assassins in their house in Russian Manchuria. She and the family servant boy, Ilyich, grow up in Russia multi-lingual, do a lot of things (join bandit gangs, rob trains, steal coffee beans, get lined up before firing squads) and end up working for Japan. It is 1896 and Tanya is sent as a spy to the Russian legation in Seoul where Ko-jong, the king of Korea, is living under the protection of the Russians. The king loves this new-fangled beverage, coffee (the “gabi” of the title), and she is hired to prepare and serve it to him. Meanwhile her lover Ilyich ends up working for the Japanese military in Korea. A lot of intrigue follows, with spies from all sides competing against each other, plots to poison the king set up and foiled, people assassinated, militia’s battling, a lot happens. Will Tanya's and Ilyich's loyalty return to Korea? Will they ever be together?
Gabi is a sumptuous and engaging film to watch but it is rather too long (115 minutes), with an extremely complicated plot, and often the action gets repetitious – the film could have used some careful editing to shorten it and tighten up the plot. A great deal of the film’s dialog takes place either in Russian or Japanese, which is historically accurate and therefore kind of cool. The computer-generated vistas of late 19th century Korean urban spaces are eye-catching. Be sure to drink coffee while watching and enjoy all the gorgeous 19th-century coffee cups featured in the film.
My take: 4 stars
Two palace women, barista Tanya,
hotelier Sonya,
and translator all attend on
the Russian legate
and the Korean king for a coffee
date.
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