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Movie Review: “Bring The Soul: The Movie”

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Image Credit: Big Hit Entertainment

Introduction

“Bring The Soul: The Movie” follows the journey and behind-the-scenes of the 7 boys during their “Love Yourself” Tour, taking place during the second half of 2018. The locations that were filmed were South Korea, the United States, London, Berlin, and Paris. 2018 was no doubt a jam-packed, fulfilling, and stressful year for the super boyband. It was plane rides, eating, rehearsals, concerts, sleep — repeat.

I will be dividing this movie review into an overview of the group as a whole, before delving into the character of each individual bandmember.

Bringing the Soul

As a sign of care, fans often tell the boys to eat well, stay healthy, and to take care of themselves. Throughout the movie, we enjoyed little snippets of the boys talking about the food they enjoyed, as well as cinematic shots of them eating. The boys talked fondly about how they missed having food back in Korea whenever they went out of the country for tour.

Many milestones that the boys achieved in 2018 were documented in this movie as well. BTS were invited to visit and have an interview conducted at the Grammy Museum. They won a BBC Radio 1 Award. They sold out their concert in Citifield, New York, in less than 10 minutes.

As of 2019, the boys have been in the music business for 7 years. They have also lived together for 7 years — even more if we took into account their trainee days. When they were doing impressions of each other, they commented how they knew each other like the back of their hand due to living together for so long: “We know each other through and through”.

RM/Namjoon

“Before this I didn’t know anything about loving myself. You guys taught me how to love myself. So please, use me. Use BTS to love yourself.”

If you are familiar with BTS, you would be familiar with Namjoon’s ending ment during their “Love Yourself” tour in Citifield. Namjoon is often known for his insightful reflections and well-articulated thoughts, which showss when he speaks.

In this film, Namjoon shared multiple thoughts that he had been mulling over. During one of their drives after one of their concerts, he shared his perspectives on love and relationships. On the topic of relationships, he shared how a friend of his had been in a long-distance relationship. Namjoon believes that both sides would have it hard — regardless of whether it’s the one who is waiting, or the one being waited on. But he believes that what is more important is not who has it more difficult. Rather, both sides should be focused on doing their best for their significant other. “The love of waiting and making someone wait is equal,” he muses.

In relating his philosophy to his own experiences, he compares it to the band’s relationship with their fans (ARMY). BTS works hard to perform their very best, while the ARMY works hard to go to their concerts, support them, and sing along during their performances.

Namjoon further ponders on the concept of love. Looking back, this line of conversation probably inspired his solo song “Trivia 承: Love”. He observed how frequent love is talked about. But because something is always talked about, it may lose its meaning and we may take its purpose for granted. He shares, “If you constantly mull over a word you’re familiar with, the word suddenly becomes unfamiliar. Taking my name for example, Kim Namjoon. If I repeat it over and over again, it suddenly sounds very awkward. Why is my name Kim Namjoon? Why am I Kim Namjoon? What does that mean? Those thoughts just popped up into my mind. But I think we need these thoughts.”

Due to the constant travelling and plane rides on tour, it is no surprise that the boys would feel tired and worn-out. Namjoon briefly complained about the plane ride, but stopped himself. He shyly explained that he shouldn’t be complaining as there are people out there who are having it harder. I personally felt saddened, for regardless of the struggles of others may be facing, we do have the right to speak up when things are difficult for us. Despite how performing may look effortless for the boyband, there is a great amount of sacrifice that comes along with this life they have chosen.

Jin

The oldest member in the group — yet the most light-hearted who occasionally acts as though he is the youngest. He briefly shared on their struggles with privacy since becoming well-known. He talks about how their members have to be accompanied by both security guard and manager, just so that they are able to get food when they are abroad. He feels bad about creating such a hassle when he is able to casually walk to a grocery store, cook, or eat at a convenience store when he wants food back in Korea.

When he was walking about during one of his days off, he comes across some swans, joking about how they were probably taller than him. He commented how he should leave quickly to somewhere safer away from them. When Jin started imitating the swans, I was asked by my family members if he was the youngest— to which I laughed. Jin has always tried his best to stay positive for the team, and it is no secret that he inspires his band members to enjoy life a little more.

Suga/Yoongi

Yoongi is known not only for his fire raps, but he has made a name being a music producer as well. He bagged the “Hot Trend Award” in 2017 when he helped produce artist Suran’s song “Wine”. During the movie, he reflects on how they are still working despite being on tour. It is known that RM, Suga and J-Hope have contributed to the majority of their discography. Yoongi talks about the process of songwriting and visiting recording studios while abroad. He joked that he has an unreleased song in his hard drive called “Chile, I’m Hungry”, wondering if any artist wanted this song from him.

Yoongi has become more of himself as the years go by, and he has an occasionally goofy side. He teased ARMY’s with his trademark saying of “Make some noise!”. He also joked about how it was becoming hot in the stadium they were performing, saying, “Is it hot in here… it’s because of you, ARMY!.” Aside from working on music, the boys do attend the gym to work out.

J-Hope/Hoseok

Hoseok is often fondly referred to as the ‘sunshine’ of the group. Always being loud, cheerful, and entertaining. During one of their days off in Berlin, Hoseok was taking a stroll around the city. He commented how he has been starting to understand Namjoon and Taehyung’s love for the outdoors — it was miles better than being cooped up in their hotel room. It was revealed that he was suffering from a persistent cold throughout tour. Despite his illness, he gave his all in every performance, never giving any indication he was unwell. Being the dance leader of the group, Hoseok pays very close attention to detail. He picks up on how they can all improve, watching VCR recordings back before rehearsing for any upcoming performance.

Jimin

Despite us seeing Jimin as a well-rounded performer with his elegant dance moves, he gets tired more often than we may think. Jimin suffers from chronic pain in his knee, as well as pain in his neck. He talks about needing to improve his stamina — inspiring his trips to the gym.

He comments on the members’ fashion for onstage performances, stating how he himself wears a lot of rings to get into the ‘performance mood’. A heartwarming moment that made it into the movie was when ARMY planned a special fan event to celebrate Jimin’s birthday while they were touring in Amsterdam.

V/Taehyung

BTS views being invited to perform as a high honour, as they always talked about how they enjoyed performing and how giving their very best is key. Unfortunately in Paris last year, Taehyung was suffering from a bad sore throat. He could barely croak or sing, which led him into tears backstage as he felt guilty he was unable to give his all for their fans. Jin was telling Taehyung not to cry as it was breaking his heart, while the other members were comforting him in their own ways.

JUNGKOOK

Right before their “Love Yourself” tour in London last year, Jungkook was suffering from a leg injury, involving a deep laceration at the side of his foot. Knowing how much the younger enjoyed performing, Namjoon expressed his worry for Jungkook’s mental state if he had to miss out. The other members also shared about the difficulties they face whenever they had to cover for a missing member — it always felt incomplete. The younger ended up performing sat down, with a compressed bandage wrapped around his injured foot. At the end of the night, he was in tears — apologising to the crowd in London for not being in his best condition. The other members comforted him on stage with pats on his back, saying that it was not his fault that he was injured.

Another moment showing Jungkook’s dedication was when he ended up in tears due to making a barely noticeable mistake during his performance of “Euphoria”. Jimin announced to the others that Jungkook was upset, and needed to be comforted. The other members joked that Namjoon should be the one apologising as he had mistakenly left out an entire verse during their group performance of “I’m Fine”. Jungkook was always hard on himself, always constantly thinking that he is able to better himself.

Image Credit: BTS Official Facebook

Conclusion

The movie ends with a reflection from Namjoon. He shared that what matters is knowing he did the best he could for himself every single day. He hopes that by doing his best, he would be able to contribute towards the young people of today of what it means to truly love themselves.

He went on to share his thoughts on WeVerse after watching the movie together with the other boys. Namjoon acknowledged that despite thinking he was mature at the time, looking back, he realised how far he was from that. He also shared about the importance of being sincere. Namjoon shared that the movie allowed him to reflect on ways he can improve: “And I really just wanted to become better. I still have a long way to go until I reach the “me” that I see will suit “me”. I’m always grateful and I’ll keep on moving forward reflecting on who I really am.”

BTS are 7 boys giving their absolute all every single day: whether it be through their thoughts, how they deal with their struggles, their jokes, their pain, or their purpose. In expressing gratitude for their ARMY, they shared:

“The colour purple means that even until the very end, we will always be supporting each other.

I love you more than yesterday, but less than tomorrow.”