bur_007

It's been a while since I've seen this movie, but I just had to write this. I was just playing a little game by going through each genre on IMDb and picking my favorite movie from each genre. For animated movies there was no doubt for me: grave of the fireflies was number one. When I came to drama's I just thought about the movie that had touched me the most. Again I ended up picking GOTFF. Finally arriving at war movies, I also picked this movie.

The greatness of this movie is all in making the spectator realise what war does to people and for a moment you don't think of war casualties as just casualties, but you start to imagine what people have gone through before dying and how the acquaintances have to deal with the loss of a loved one. Takahata creates this pity very well. He gradually makes you fall in love with the main characters (especially Setsuko). It also shows that a war affects both parties. Even though Japan was one of the 'bad guys' in WWII, this movie helps you emphasize also with the people living over there.

To make a short story even shorter; this is definitely one of my personal all time favorites. It shows you (even though it's animated) more than any other movie does what the effect of war is on normal civilians like you and me. I know it might sound cruel but I'm a bit tired of all the soldier war movies. It even has gone to a point that I can't be bothered by war anymore if it's shown in the form of a military movie. This movie, however, has put me right back on the ground and made it all real again. Definitely a must see!

P.S. Too make it even sadder for you than it already is: the story is based on WWII experiences of the writer himself. He was Seita...

Taegukgi to me was really refreshing. I'm used to (/tired of?) seeing war films about wars involving western countries, mainly the Vietnam war and WW II and this film made me like war films again, if only for a brief moment (I know western parties are involved in the Korean War as well, but the main characters here are Koreans).

Taegukgi shows the audience a great (Korean) insight in the Korean War and besides this delivers it in a great story as well. The story of two brothers growing apart during wartime may seem a bit typical (and it would have been), but the director really takes his time getting into the story what results in a great compassion created by the viewer. Before seeing the film I knew little about the Korean War and when I visited Korea, my Korean friend insisted I'd watch this one and I'm happy he did.

This film was a big blockbuster in Korea and I can understand why. It is a great film but above all the Koreans are really proud of their national history. Taegukgi does a great job putting a part of that history on screen for the world to see.

Besides this I would like to point out it's very interesting to see JSA and Welcome to Dongmakgol. Those two films (in addition to Taegukgi) give an even better insight in how the (South-) Koreans experience(d) the Korean war and the effect it had and in some way still has on the people of Korea.

I give it 8/10

Qing Hong gives a great historic insight in the Chinese life in the 70's. Unlike films like 'Das Leben der Anderen' and 'Hotel Rwanda' Wang achieves this with a good story. Even though the films mentioned above are realistic, Wang tells the story from the everyday live perspective and I feel it makes it easier for the audience to connect with it. I also think the film isn't made too dramatic like 'Hotel Rwanda' and 'Das Leben der Anderen' tend to be. Of course it is dramatic, but it isn't like you're watching pure fiction. This film had a thorough impact on me, considering the fact that I'm writing this comment a year after I've seen it. I just saw Beijing Bicycle, which is supposed to be better than Qing Hong (I read a review somewhere), and it made me think of Qing Hong, since they're both films directed by Wang. To make a long story short: great film with an interesting historic touch to it.

8/10