okay.. for those of you who couldn't understand the movie, I'll explain it to you. (caution: I watched it without english subtitles so it might be slightly different, especially the names and the dialoge)
definite truth: 9 soldiers sent to r-point to search for survivors who were thought to be KIA 6 months ago. everything else can be interpreted differently depending on the people.
Who is the guy with the bandage?: HE's captine Kang, the only survivor from unit donkey. look closely on the conversation between the investigator(colonel han) and the guy with the bandages.
Meaning of the chinese characters on the stone
"long ago, china invaded vietnam and killed many vietnamese by drowning them in the lake. so they filled up the lake and built a shrine there.
I am where you are. anyone who has spilled blood on their hands cannot return."
since it was originally a lake, there's a lot of fog.
so the son of the undertaker(as in the mortuary guy) says "places like this isn't for tombs or cemetaries. places where the dead can't stay, the living cant stay. only ghosts do." he is basically giving a hint about how it will end for them.
"I am where you are" could mean
1. ghosts are very nearby
2. the soldiers are the ghosts.
I will explain this further later in the passage.
Soldiers corporal Cho met: on one of their helmets says "wait for me, jungsook." this guy with the helmet is the original owner of the camera sgt.Oh has. corporal Cho creeps flat on the ground with them, but the next moment they're gone. these guys turn out to be the soldiers missing 6 months ago.
the shrine and the insence: because corporal Cho went missing, the rest of the soldiers in the building joins the search. When they go into the shrine, there's insence lighted in it. corporal Cho is hiding around it. watch the insence closely, then you'l notice that it's not been a long time since lighted. either the ghost or Cho did this. the insence means respect and sacrifice for the dead.
Viewpoint with the different color sence: not human. probably ghost.
WHo are the americans?: they are surely spirits or ghosts, since later in the movie a helicopter wreckage and their corpses are found. pay attention to sgt. beck and his necklace.
when he says he's not related to the american govt, it can mean
1.im under the command of the american army, not the gov.
2.we're dead, so I am not related 'anymore'.
when he says that theres nothing alive in the Rpoint:
1.this is a cursed place. nobody comes here.
2.since nothing is alive here, we're not alive.
3.(to lt.choi)and you're not alive either
when he tells lt.Choi not to touch his stuff
1.its an american amry property. korean gov do not have control over it.
2.we wish you to stay here without knowing anything
3.we need to lure more victims.
IF americans are ghosts, how the hell did they give the bear?:
what do you care? lt.CHoi's a ghost anyway! maybe its because they're both ghosts.
The French: the radioman gets a message from a french soldier, but the thing is, the radioman doesn't speak french. this can imply that either the radioman or the french soldier is a ghost.
Sgt.Ma and Sgt.Jang: Sgt. Jang complains that Sgt. Ma smells weird. implications are
1. Sgt. Ma is a cook.
2. corpse smell the same way. Sgt. Ma is a ghost.
Hanged pvt.Jung: blood. lots of blood. corpses 6months old don't have blood. so pvt. Jung is also a ghost.
Why in the last scene, the building so clean?:
1. Sgt. Jang is the only human. the rest are ghosts.
2. Sgt. jang is the only ghost.
there's ghosts among the soldiers. Who MIGHT that be?
1. lt.Choi
-only one thinking rational
-only one who can see the tomb of the french
-only one who can see the girl in white
2. Corporal Cho
-closest meaning to death
-watch closely the helmet cover. it changes
-kills 3 people directly or indirectly
3.Sgt. Jang
-his serial number starts with 81, but others start with 83
(the serial number on your dogtag is issued by date).
-In the beginning of the movie, Captine KAng says that he collected everyone's dogtag who were KIA. in the last part, Sgt. Kang is upset because he lost his dogtag. it's already been collected by cpt. KAng.
OR, is everyone not human?
-except for the beginning, nobody is sweating; all along the movie.
vietnam weather is very wet and hot; it makes you sweat just by sitting in the shade. if they don't sweat, it can be implyed that they are not human.
So, the movie can be interpreted into many ways.
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KrustyGeezer
17 years ago
Saw the film last night and got/agree with most of what you've written - Thanks by the way for taking the time to help those who didn't 'get it'.
Problem is, I still think that this is a very disappointing film. OK, not as bitter a disappointment as 'Miami Vice' or 'Da Vinci Code', but then again what was in 2006?
It's well shot, but the story! Jeez! Repetition must apparently be a virtue in Korea, and if so, this is one of the most virtuous films that you'll ever see. The film is frisson-free, especially compared to other (read Japanese - e.g. The Ring, Dark Water, The Grudge etc.) recent international breakthroughs, failing as a thriller or horror flick. And yes, viewed through my myopic European eyes, I do think that the acting was singularly one-dimensional - Admittedly this could be a cultural thing and seen with Korean eyes, the actors are emoting for all that they've got! Who knows. In the end you don't care anyway.
The fact that I've said that I didn't like this film doesn't automatically mean that I can't stand foreign films, or that I am an intellectual dwarf etc. I accept that it's a bit rich starting a thread about how crap a film is when you've only seen half of it, but this whole *beep* up attitude that anyone daring to express an opinion that's negative needs to be castigated and denigrated, is incomprehensible. If you disagree, fine. You can even list/argue/discuss what you disagree with. I love the fact that a lot of the threads here just insult (the intelligence) of anyone that doesn't like this film. (At a guess, most of these comments are from US users, and the nuance-free mindset of 'either you're with us, or against us' really has filtered down to the bottom feeders) Life would be simple if everything was so black & White...You like the film? You're a God amongst men! You don't like the film? Well you obviously find anything more than a three minute cartoon challenging!
Let's get this straight. I saw the whole film. I got the story. I liked the lighting/filming but I thought that the storyline was repetitive, the film unengaging and boring, and the acting stilted. Basta!
That's just my own humble opinion, with the stress on 'my'. Watch it, and make up your own mind - but at least you've now been warned.
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