MovieChat Forums > Welkkeom tu Dongmakgol (2005) Discussion > Well, one of the most beautiful anti-war...

Well, one of the most beautiful anti-war movies...

posted 16 years ago by Anthos
11 replies | jump to latest

With beautiful photography in a war movie and great directing.

It's a humanitarian approach to war and I just cannot coprehend the people that came to this board finding flaws about Smith's character or making the Americans look bad etc etc

The way I watched it is that the Americans didn't know the culture of the Korean people and we've seen that in American war films as well (US officers not getting along with South Korean officers). Smith living there for some time, watching the villagers but also the North & South Koreans getting along, he changed his way of thinking.

It comes to show that plain people do not have anything to divide or fight over for. That's politics and governments. The N.Korean soldier handing over the the flag shows exactly that. Captain Smith helping the Koreans shows exactly that.

I would think that most people watching this movie, will just condemn war without blaming the Americans or the Koreans etc. It's an anti-war movie who keeps fair distances.

[–] Desertman84 15 years ago

This is a lot better than Saving Private Ryan.

[–] cluniac 15 years ago

A lot better than 'Saving Private Ryan'. Is that a recommendation? 'Saving Private Ryan' is such an over rated movie.

[–] cluniac 15 years ago

Beautiful cinematography, yes. Good Korean actors, yes. BUT, Smith and the other foreigners in the film are so BAD that it amazes me that so many reviewers on IMD think this film is so good. I'm certain that shortly before shooting, the people who made this film picked up the chaps who played Smith and the other foreigners off the street in Seoul or where ever because they couldn't get any proper actors. The only reason I watched it to the end is because I'd bought it. If someone had lent it to me, I would have pressed the stop button and ejected it out of my DVD player about half way through. In addition to the terrible casting, like 'Brotherhood', I found the tone of this film ridiculously sentimental and over reliant on over the top, big budget action movie effects that would have impressed me when I was a child.

[–] joseph1 15 years ago

Though I know your comments were made over couple months ago neverthless I have to disagree with your comments. Those american and canadian white actors are professioner actors from their own respected countries. They may not be the well known stars but neverthless are professioner actors in their own rights and they darn good ones too may I say so!!!

[–] Fire-in-the-Holes 15 years ago

No, the Americans in this film are rubbish actors (I'm guessing you are one of them), but thankfully it doesn't detract that much from the film overall. Still a brilliant film.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=30715620

[–] cluniac 14 years ago

'Those american and canadian white actors are professioner actors from their own respected countries. They may not be the well known stars but neverthless are professioner actors in their own rights and they darn good ones too may I say so!!!'

Please let me know what it is you smoke.

[–] joekinplaya 13 years ago

Many reasons why characters like Smith is "bad." One, he's a fairly inexperienced actor from the list of his work. For all we know, he could be a starting off actor. Two, usually in Korean films, English-first-language actor/actress enunciate a lot to help the average audience understand. I was born in South Korea and I moved to the USA when I was 7... however, I can certainly tell you that many Koreans learn basic English like how USA schools teach Spanish. And because like Americans who try to pronounce foreign dialect using their pronunciation knowledge, the accent is all messed up the same with Koreans. There is no F sound in our alphabets so we replace it with the P sound or the H sound. So give a little leniency to the American actor. The director probably told him to talk like that so the audience can follow along. Thing is, many Asian cinematography is sentimental and a bit over the top. Asians are suckers for those things, specifically in watching films that make you cry. You have to understand the audience market and the differences in culture. This isn't American film where it has to be rated R to be a decent movie. I mean people think Saving Private Ryan was so good but honestly it's overrated and it isn't as amazing as people said it is.

[–] rooprect 14 years ago

I've seen some excellent anti-war movies, but this is truly one of the tops. It's power lies in its charm & uplifting fantasy. Too many anti-war movies are drab, depressing and whiney. They try to shock & disgust us into embracing peace. But I think it's much more effective, when promoting peace, to do it in an inspiring way. Hats off to films like Dongmakgol and Good Morning Vietnam that manage to do it through humour & levity (while still giving us enough realism to understand the gravity of the situation).

[–] tetrahex 14 years ago

which is bs, actual studies of ancient peoples and isolated primitive groups show high levels of violence and murder, far beyond anything we have even including world wars. violence/death per capita is extreme. So essentially the idea that plain people have nothing to fight for is idealistic fantasy.

[–] dlee473 13 years ago

I can't believe some of the b.s. comments about this film being about-American either. Maybe some of these nutjobs believe anti-war equates to anti-American.

The only real flaw about the Smith character was his acting. There are hundreds of good American actors who I think would have loved to be in this movie and this is the best they could find?

[–] DM-DAAN 13 years ago

About the western acting: please don't forget that you (probably) judge the acting from a western/Hollywood point of view. But there is no universal way of acting. People all over the world portray emotions differently, and actors act accordingly. This particular casting agent just chose an actor who for them (as in: Koreans, the targeted audience) could portray this in a way that suited his symbolic role in the whole story. They probably just wanted an Average Joe and didn't care about him having top dialogue or could go method-POW for the movie. Or the poor chap was just following directions.

I for one didn't find him or his acting annoying. At least, not more than I would find a real person who was wounded and stranded in a remote village where nobody could understand you. The whole movie is a micro depiction of the whole Korean war, and he's just the personification of the US. All the soldiers in this movie aren't real characters in that sense, just symbols.