Welkkeom tu Dongmakgol

The only thing that stinks about this movie is... what am I going to follow it with? Dongmakgol is such a memorable, powerful experience that I'm afraid to watch another movie lest the next one be a dud.

The only reason I watched this film was that I heard Joe Hisaishi did the musical score. He of course did a brilliant job as always, but that's not even the tip of the iceberg. For one thing, it's the first *colourful* war film I've ever seen. What is it with war movies and drab, bleached sepia tones anyway? Hasn't that been done to death? Well, the gorgeous opening scene of an angelic girl standing in a meadow and watching a fighter plane crash ought to be enough to tell you that this is no cookie-cutter war movie. I'm about to cry just thinking of it.

*sob* give me a minute, willya

OK... moving along...

I won't pretend to say I know anything about the Korean War. I'll leave the political bickering to other IMDb posters. For me, this told a very timeless, human story which could have been set in any war. It is the story of two violent enemies who find something more important than their conflict.

I didn't care who was wearing which uniform, nor did I care who the "bad guys" were, nor did I even flinch when I, a red-blooded American, found myself occasionally hoping for an American soldier to be shot (a truly bizarre experience). I ignored all that stuff; it's all purely incidental. At any time, you could swap flags, and the story would be the same. Magical, humbling, emotional, funny and profoundly affecting.

I strongly recommend that ALL Americans SHOULD SEE THIS FILM. NOW. It's not a history lesson; it's a human lesson. And the message is extremely timely with what is going on in the world today. Leave your personal political views at the door, and allow yourself to be swept away by the poetry of this wonderful tale.

During the Korean war, soldiers on both sides find themselves in a mountain town where the villagers didn't even know that a conflict was being fought. The battle scenes are chaotic, brutal and intense, in the vein of Saving Private Ryan, with strong emotional impact following the humanity seen from everyone. We aren't led to believe that anyone is "evil", there is good and bad in everyone(yes, that goes for the American troops seen, as well). You really find yourself responding to the characters, recognizing traits and such. Do we like everyone? No, just like in real life. The FX are great with occasional exceptions(especially the CGI, I'm afraid... though it really isn't that big a part of this). This is well-acted, and I implore you to accept the subtitles. The realism is impeccable, and you can practically feel the pain and impact when a bullet hits. This is filmed and edited rather well. It keeps to a good pace, so the 133 minutes pass pretty smoothly. There is a moderate amount of bloody, violent and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to any fan of dramas. 8/10

The tragedy of this film is that it's not playing in every theatre in the U.S. so it can be seen by the people who most need to see it. Thank you, Korean American friend of a friend who shared it with us.

See this film if you or someone care about is thinking about signing up to go into the military. See it if have been, or if you've ever known anyone who was, in a war. See it if you have ever seen a peace march - live or on television - and asked,"What's it all about?" See it if you love life.

Don't worry; it's not propaganda or any kind. It just takes us to the scene of the action, sets us down, then lets us get to know some very real people and watch what happens.

Carolfrances

Charming feel good story set during the Korean War. Hard to believe but true! The characters are easy to identify with, and draw you into the story. They are fairly believable, with the slight exception of the North Korean commander who seems perhaps too heroic. It verges on being trite or cheesy at times, idolizing the "quaint" village, but for the most part stays away from that. The film is even handed in its treatment of all sides in this war, other than perhaps the military command, as it is quite anti-war. There is a bit of violence and gore, so it isn't for young children. I would recommend this to anyone; go in expecting a fairly romanticized comedy and you shouldn't be disappointed.

I just cant believe how much I became fond of the characters and hows visually beautiful this film is. The score is gently leading you along as this touching tale unfolds.

The different layers of the story adds much deserved humanity to the characters - which were well cast. Especially the crazy girl of the village (Hye-jeong Kang from the film Old Boy).

The film brings together the South Korean/American Allies and the Communist North so that they saw eye to eye as human beings, due to the example of innocence radiating from the village. I'm looking forward to the director of Welcome to Dongmakgol's future work.

Basically a really really good film! Korean cinema is really finding its way.

Many Thanks, Ricky Thind