MovieChat Forums > Palwolui Keuriseumaseu (1998) Discussion > Emotionally-Inconti nent Westerners?

Emotionally-Inconti nent Westerners?


Quote: wjjoo:

"However, what makes this film outstanding is the way Jungwon deals his death. He is a loser, but tried to do his best while he's alive, IN A SILENT WAY. He does not tell anybody around him about his death. He hides something in his mind but without rage, hate, vengeance. He just tried to do best while he was alive. This limited communication and obedience to fate is the typical mindset of Koreans and the point most Western people don't understand or at best, misunderstand."

A Korean reviewer posted this, er, five years ago. I know they're never going to see this, but I wanted to respond, all the same.

I'm British. Wjjoo seems to be under the impression that most Westerners don't understand the attitude of the man in this brilliant film. I don't know if "stoicism" is really the right word for what he demonstrated, but I disagree that Westerners are any less likely to understand him than Koreans.

I can understand that people who don't live in the West might think that Westerners, and particularly Americans and British, can't get through life without seeking attention from all and sundry every five minutes, and continually complain when their every single desire isn't constantly met the whole time, but I would put this impression down to a raucous media (all media; films, trash TV, reality(!) TV, magazines, tabloids) which doesn't accurately reflect most normal people, but rather accentuates the worst and noisiest of us.

I can't remember who coined this quote, but it WAS "Englishmen" who were supposed to live lives of "quiet desperation". The only thing wrong with this quote, of course, was that it's not just Englishmen who do - men and women all over the world do.

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The quote is from Henry David Thoreau, from his 1854 work, Walden: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

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wojjoo did put it very nicely. it was the ending that made the movie for me!! such selfless sacrifice!!
i can see you feel offended by the mention of westerns. but westerners do spoil korean movie boards saying they are hyperemotional and overdramatic(which is kind of true, koreans are such great fan of drama!).Englishmen are obviously not emotionally handicapped.

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Forgive me if I seem like I'm ignoring you in my reply here, but I'm just shocked to see something I wrote seven years ago! Where does the time go?!




It's about how audaciously you are carrying on in calm.

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