Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)

Director:

Kwang-Hyun Park

Writers:

Jin Jang (play)
Joong Kim (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

4 August 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Plot:

Soldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war. |

Plot Keywords:

Swarm Of Bees | North Korea | South Korea | Nationalism | Popcorn

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Jae-yeong Jeong	...	Chief Comrade Lee Su-Hwa
Ha-kyun Shin	...	2nd Lt. Pyo Hyun-Chul
Hye-jeong Kang	...	Yeo-il
Ha-ryong Lim	...	Jang Young-hee (North)
Jae-kyeong Seo	...	Army Medic Mun Sang-sang (South)
Deok-Hwan Ryu	...	Seo Taek-ki (North)
Steve Taschler	...	Smith
Jae-Jin Jung
Young-yi Lee
Nam-Hee Park
Deok-hyeon Jo		(as Duk-hyun Cho)
Seung-Mok Yoo
Won-cheol Shim
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Joseph Anselmo	...	Special Forces Commander
Michael Frederick Arnold	...	Attack Pilot Last Scene
Michael Arnold	...	Attack Pilot Last Scene
Steve M. Choe
Jon Emm	...	Colonel
Leif Gantvoort	...	Major
Edwards Garrett
Clinton Morgan

Directed by
Kwang-Hyun Park

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jin Jang		play
Joong Kim		writer
Kwang-Hyun Park		writer

Produced by
Sang-ho Choi	....	producer
Jin Jang	....	executive producer
Jin Jang	....	producer
Sang-yong Ji	....	producer
Chi-hoon Kim	....	associate producer
Woo-Taek Kim	....	executive producer
Euna Lee	....	producer
Eun-ha Lee	....	producer
Sang-jun Ma	....	executive producer
Jeong Tae-Sung	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Sang-ho Choi

Film Editing by
Steve M. Choe

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sang-eun Lee	....	assistant director

Camera and Electrical Department
Man-gyu Lee	....	lighting director

Music Department
Joe Hisaishi	....	conductor

Other crew
Joong Kim	....	visual supervisor

Production Companies

• Film It Suda

Distributors

• Nikkatsu (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Showbox Entertainment (2005) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Subway Cinema (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Nikkatsu (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Showbox (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Sky Entertainment Distribution (2007) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Visionary Thinking (2005-2017) (Serbia) (all media)

Other Companies

• HFR  dailies
• HFR  digital intermediate
• Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Korea

Company:

Film It Suda

Trivia:

It has been assumed there is no village in either of the Koreas with the name "Dongmakgol". However, there is a small village near Jecheon, South Korea that is named Dongmakgol.

The only thing that stinks about this movie is...

The only thing that stinks about this movie is... what am I going to follow it with? Dongmakgol is such a memorable, powerful experience that I'm afraid to watch another movie lest the next one be a dud.

The only reason I watched this film was that I heard Joe Hisaishi did the musical score. He of course did a brilliant job as always, but that's not even the tip of the iceberg. For one thing, it's the first *colourful* war film I've ever seen. What is it with war movies and drab, bleached sepia tones anyway? Hasn't that been done to death? Well, the gorgeous opening scene of an angelic girl standing in a meadow and watching a fighter plane crash ought to be enough to tell you that this is no cookie-cutter war movie. I'm about to cry just thinking of it.

*sob* give me a minute, willya

OK... moving along...

I won't pretend to say I know anything about the Korean War. I'll leave the political bickering to other IMDb posters. For me, this told a very timeless, human story which could have been set in any war. It is the story of two violent enemies who find something more important than their conflict.

I didn't care who was wearing which uniform, nor did I care who the "bad guys" were, nor did I even flinch when I, a red-blooded American, found myself occasionally hoping for an American soldier to be shot (a truly bizarre experience). I ignored all that stuff; it's all purely incidental. At any time, you could swap flags, and the story would be the same. Magical, humbling, emotional, funny and profoundly affecting.

I strongly recommend that ALL Americans SHOULD SEE THIS FILM. NOW. It's not a history lesson; it's a human lesson. And the message is extremely timely with what is going on in the world today. Leave your personal political views at the door, and allow yourself to be swept away by the poetry of this wonderful tale.