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Welcome to DongMakGol DVD (2005 Korean Movie)

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It is hard to tell you the exact nature of the film; it is basically a fantasy, but is also a war movie. Anyway the film is pretty impressive, though.

`Welcome to Dongmakgol' is made in South Korea, where it became a huge hit in 2005. It was selected as the nation's entry for Oscars, but in spite of the film's better-than average quality it was not nominated. If you see the film, you will know why it was ignored by the voters of the Academy. (I will come back to the supposed reasons later.) Let me first say that `Welcome to Dongmakgol' is a highly entertaining film for all its deep flaws.

The film begins with a close-up of a strange girl Yeo-il (played by Hye-jeong Kang, 'Old Boy') who is happily staring something falling from the sky. Actually she is watching a US fighter airplane which lands near the sleepy and peaceful village of Dongmakgol.

The story is in fact set in the 1950s, during the Korean War, and two groups of soldiers are seen heading for the same village Dongmakgol without knowing the presence of each other. When three soldiers of the North Korean army led by Chief Comrade Lee Su-Hwa (Jae-yeong Jeong) arrive at Dongmakgol after a bloody battle, they are surprised to find that there are not only two South Korean soldiers, 2nd Lt. Pyo (Ha-kyun Shin) and Army Medic Mun Sang-sang (Jae-kyeong Seo) but also an American pilot Smith (called Su-Misu, played by Steve Taschler).

Well I think you already know the rest of the story, which is pretty predictable. The soldiers of both sides confront one another at first, but the kind villagers and the life in the peaceful village gradually change their minds.

Something happens in the middle of the film, which I won't disclose here. All I can say is that some characters of the film, especially the Westerns (or Americans to be precise), are depicted in a very negative light. True, the filmmakers did not forget to refer to the painful facts as to who started the war, or who killed the (South/North) Koreans, and they present this Smith as a very nice guy. However, it is also true that some Western soldiers are violent, trigger-happy (and bomb-happy too), extremely negative stereotypes, and their nagative traits are shown on the screen with truly stereotypical villain's acting.

Though some scenes reflect the today's political climate in this country, the film has lots of wonderful fantasy-like moments that would be universally appealing, accompanied by the beautifull music of Jo Hisaishi (known for his works in the films of Miyazaki and Kitano), and the friendship between the characters are really moving. The ending has a surreal beauty, which is surely touching, but like many other films from South Korea, the film is sometimes very nationalistic, alienating some of us from the content of the film. `Welcome to Dongmakgol' is worth a look for the good acting from the Korean stars, and its unique visuals (see the funny slow-motion hunting sequence), but could be better with well-balanced descriptions of some characters.

One of the common themes that can be found in traditional East Asian literature is that of a small village ensconced by mountains and protected by the ravages of the outside world. While the outside world might be enmeshed within the struggles of war, these secret hamlets prosper with their only concerns pertaining to daily necessities not the brutalities that man can wreck upon his fellow man.

Welcome to Dongmakgol opens with a small detachment of North Korean soldiers whose numbers are continuously dwindling not only because of constant attacks, but also because they have been given the order to kill every wounded man. Sick of the murder of his own men, High Comrade Lee Su-Hwa refuses to kill the few remaining wounded soldiers. Yet his second-in-command is all to ready to follow the orders of high command and tries to stir up a mutiny versus the High Comrade. However, before the heated words are able to become firing guns, the small group is attacked and only four survive. These four men scale a steep mountain and their number is reduced to three when the fourth plummets to his death.

Wandering alone on the mountain, the medic Moon Sang-sang comes across a fellow South Korean soldier, 2nd Lt. Pyo readying himself to commit suicide. The medic stops the man from doing so, but almost gets killed himself. As with the North Korean soldiers, these two men make their way into the wilderness.

While resting, the three North Korean soldiers encounter an odd girl dressed in traditional clothing with flowers in her hair. Although each man points a gun at her, she shows little concern and informs the men that they should move because they are standing close to a snake rock. After a snake falls on the arm of Sgt. Jang the three men unload their weapons at the rock. With their guns empty, the three men follow the girl, Yeo-il, to Dongmakgol. Later the South Korean soldiers arrive and, of course, there is a stand off between the two groups. However, after a few events, including the food storehouse blowing up and defeating a wild boar, the five Koreans, along with an American pilot named Kent Smith whose plane crashed at the very beginning of the film, are able to come to terms with each other temporarily, but with the threat of other outsiders looming on the horizon can this fragile friendship be maintained?

One of South Korea's biggest hits in 2005 Welcome to Dongmakgol is truly a visual delight. The natural scenery is quite stunning and the CG, a brilliant sequence with a wild boar and a rain of popcorn, is very well done. The actors, especially Shin Ha-kyun, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Joint Security Area, Save the Green Planet, and Jeong Jae-yeong, the Quiet Family, Guns and Talks, do an extraordinary job of portraying adversaries who eventually warm to each other. While not the best of friends, their friendship does shine through. Kang Hye-jeong, Oldboy, Antarctic Journal, does a good job portraying the nutty but sweet girl Yeo-il.

While primarily a comedy Welcome to Dongmakgol also contains a few graphic scenes of violence such as the eradication of the North Korean soldiers at the beginning of the film and a few scenes near the end of the film. While the film might be written off by some as a hurrah that both Koreas can work together, those of Western decent might be a little shocked by the portrayal of Western soldiery, i.e. American, in an otherwise comedic film.

For anyone who grew up on *M*A*S*H* or is interested in Korea, this film gives a Korean perspective on the Korean war. As a tragic comedy, this film gave me both humor and a somber look at a country divided in two. Although the Shangrilah-esque town of Dongmakgol is fictional, the setting draws a clear contrast between the truly idyllic Korean countryside and the ravages of war. The film reveals the ludicrousness of one people torn on two and fighting against themselves without really even knowing why.

There is some anti-American bias in the film, but this also makes the film unique in Korean culture since most people here in Korea typically see Americans as having helped South Korea, which is partially true. However, American officials were the ones to decide (without consulting Koreans) where to divide Korea in two and in fact the USA was primarily fighting in Korea not to help Koreans but to establish a foothold in Asia against the former communist USSR.

Summary: a great, film that's at once hilarious and heart-rending. This film can be enjoyed by the whole family, although there are perhaps a combined 5-10 minutes of violence at two times in the film.

A friend recommended this movie to me and I'm glad I listened to her. I watched this with a friend who is unfamiliar with Korean culture and he enjoyed it as well. A smart dialogue accompanied with some truly beautiful panning shots of the mounatains and the fields added a tounch of sincerity and truthfulness to it, mirroring the nature of the village itself. Its a really good comedy burdened by the weight of reality.

At times, the visual effects arent 100% convincing but overall they're pretty good. The american actor in the movie did a pretty bad job in my opinion but luckily he doesnt play a large role in the movie.

As a Korean and a soldier serving in Iraq, this movie really hit home for me. To see the struggles of soldiers and the issues they face framed in a different background was entertaining and a personal experience.

Just a wonderful film. Definitely worth watching.

*
There's not much more that can be added to what the previous reviewer (Michael W. "daitokuji31") has stated about this movie (unfortunately, he leaves almost nothing to the imagination and borderlines on "spoiler" territory). It's quite obvious that he was equally as impressed with this movie as I was -- and we as impressed as native Koreans were when they made it the smash box office sensation it became in their homeland.

Hearing that it is marketed/promoted as a "comedy" and that its genesis saw fruition as a "stage play" may put a great number of people off, or at least make them hesitate a bit uncomfortably. DON'T LET IT! I believe that labeling this movie as a "comedy" is a serious misnomer. Yes, it has what one may consider "comedic" moments (some of them very contrived), but such moments play out within the confines of a much more serious "passion play," if you will, which looks heavily & deeply into the issues revolving around the great human drama, such as the effects & tragedies warfare has on both society as a whole AND on the individual ("participants" AND "victims" alike), how "politics" often has the uncanny ability to turn "brothers" into bitter enemies for no good or justifiable reason, and our innate desire for the blissful shelter of "innocence" in the midsts of a world gone insane.

"Dongmakgol" handles these difficult themes lovingly and tenderly, but also disturbingly and frighteningly, but ultimately very "beautifully."

Much like the other Korean 'North vs. West' dramatic blockbuster, "JOINT SECURITY AREA" ("Gongdong Kyeongbi Kuyeok JSA"), there is none of the propagandistic Southern/Western "good-guys" versus Northern/Socialist "bad-guys" to be had here -- BOTH sides are put on full display for their decent/charming side as well as their horrendous/dishonorable side. And like "JSA," 'WELCOME TO DONGMAKGOL" is not intended to pass judgement or point the finger of blame to anyone, but to show & explore the "common side" of humanity, how that in the end we all have the same hopes, the same desires and the same loves. What "Dongmakgol" does seem to be suggesting, however, is that MAYBE we could possibly achieve that equalibrium to some extent if we were willing to be a bit more "naive" -- unafraid of showing & welcoming the same kind of naivete and "innocence" as expressed by lovely Yeo-il and the people of her hidden little village.

~ P. S. :
Hisaishi Joh's accompanying musical score is simply breathtaking, mesmerizing, inspiring, (and however many other related adjectives you can supply)!