Doce de Menta

I saw this movie in a college class, and it's possible to have an entire lecture on it. Unfortunately, my professor only had about twenty minutes, though I'm sure he would've loved a couple hours.

Granted, the subtitles weren't the greatest. Being Korean, I had a much easier time understanding everything, because if there was something I couldn't quite understand in Korean, I had the subtitles to help me along.

To paraphrase my professor, this movie isn't just about the story of one man, but how this one man's life signifies the past fifty years of Korean history as well, a people subject to the influences of forces greater than they.

To give a quick Korean history lesson, for the first half of the century, the Koreans were brutally subjugated by the Japanese, who not only wanted to colonize it, but to assimilate the people and culture completely into their own. Then came WW2, and following that, the start of the Cold War conflicts, beginning of course with the Korean War, where brother fought brother and a people was torn apart.

The second half of the century, following the Korean War, has been defined by dictatorships, as the oppressive Korean government put down democratic student movements, as seen in part of the film. It is only recently that true democracy has begun to form and strengthen.

The main character of the movie is shown in the beginning, a ruined man, and one can assume from following sequences, shown in backwards chronological order, that he is an evil and corrupt man. However, the purpose of the movie is to show how he was corrupted by larger forces, mirroring the Korean people's own search for their lost innocence. It is in the seemingly mundane scenes of his life that we see how trite and ordinary violence and depravity have become, yet we also travel back to see where every part of him came from.

I'm sure I could say a lot more, but basically it's about a lot more than the story of one man, and the seemingly irrelevant stories of his life signify more about both him and the Korean people as a whole. Terrific movie.

I was really impressed by the plot line of this film. I first wonder why he has to die and why he is so destructive. Then the plot goes reverse into the past while it untangles the mystery why he became that reckless. Chronologically placed scenes are bound together with one key 'peppermint candy'.

Kyung-gu Sol really plays the roll well. He plays it not just as a violent, but solitary and vulnerable man. Through his exquisite acting, we learn his character and even historical background. Without him, this film would be a husk.

When I was a kid in the 1990s, I saw on television news almost every day that students in South Korea were arguing with the police.

I always thought, what are these demonstrations for?

Watching this video tells us exactly what was the reason for all the clashes with the police. A sick society under the influence of dictatorship and a corrupt system.

This movie has a beautiful and dreamy beginning. A man , who is about to commit suicide, sees some of his old friends by the river.

Then the memories of the past pass through his mind. I do not want to spoil the story of the film, but I definitely suggest you watch this film. I gave this beautiful film a score of 9 out of 10.

If the rhythm of the movie was a little faster, I could say that this is a complete movie. But in some scenes, the rhythm of the film becomes boring. But this is a glorious film that must be seen.

A young man is drafted into South Korea's army, where he is forced to suppress student demonstrations. A stint in the police has him beating confessions out of suspects. Upon leaving the cop job, this wrecked, embittered soul fails as a businessman and a husband.

All of this is contrasted with the hero as a young and naive man who will never imagine what he will be made to become by a brutal, corrupt "system".

A very solid 8/10.

This is film art that makes no concessions to 'entertainment'. A man commits suicide at the start of the film. Then the filmmaker brilliantly flashes his life before us in short scenes moving backwards in time. The emotional power of each scene is built on our knowledge of what is yet to come for this corrupted and despairing man. And that power keeps intensifying, reaching an almost unbearable level of sadness and empathy. Not since Sophie's Choice have I seen a film so unflinching in its despair. Everything about this film demonstrates greatness: the screenplay, the cinematography, the performances, the wisdom and humanity. It's not an easy film and there were many walk-outs the night I saw it at the New Directors Festival in New York, but it will stand the test of time. Should be required viewing for every 18-year-old.