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40 out of 52 people found the following comment useful :-
A wonderful surprise ... Very spectacular film!!!, 27 August 2005
10/10
Author: Jay Shin from Seoul, S. Korea

When I first heard about this movie, I really had no expectations. I thought it would be just another one of those films that would come and go without leaving any impression. Finally, after hours of coaxing from my sister, I finally went to see the movie. And I was surprised to find that this was one of the most wonderful films I've seen in a long time.

The one word that I can think of to describe this film is "Korean". And I don't mean that this film is like other Korean films. I mean that the whole film shows very beautifully a picture of Korean culture. You can experience Korea's culture, Korea's beauty, Korea's people, and Korea's sad past. After watching this movie, I am sure that you could get a clear idea what Korea itself is like.

This movie really is a spectacular film. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. It will leave you awed when you leave the theater. A highly recommended film. I give it a 10 out of 10.

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30 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Amazing film!, 10 January 2006
8/10
Author: RickyThind from Southampton, England

I just cant believe how much I became fond of the characters and hows visually beautiful this film is. The score is gently leading you along as this touching tale unfolds.

The different layers of the story adds much deserved humanity to the characters - which were well cast. Especially the crazy girl of the village (Hye-jeong Kang from the film Old Boy).

The film brings together the South Korean/American Allies and the Communist North so that they saw eye to eye as human beings, due to the example of innocence radiating from the village. I'm looking forward to the director of Welcome to Dongmakgol's future work.

Basically a really really good film! Korean cinema is really finding its way.

Many Thanks, Ricky Thind

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21 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
excellent ... if you are not afraid to see Americans as bad guys, 9 July 2007
9/10
Author: contemporarymentor from South Korea

Please excuse bad English, I am still learning :) This is excellent film but I think many Americans will dislike it because it shows American soldiers as "bad guys". In true war there is no "good guys". There is no John Wayne who is always right. This movie shows ugliness of war on all sides. But it is still very pleasant and happy movie to watch sometimes. It is not history lesson, it is fantasy. but still it tells truth about war which Hollywood has never done because Hollywood always shows good guys vs bad guys. Even though this is fantasy it is more real than any war movie I saw. I urge you see this movie regardless of what country you from. Pretend you take no sides. You will enjoy this movie.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
The only thing that stinks about this movie is..., 22 January 2007
9/10
Author: rooprect from New York City

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.

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16 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Enemy? What enemy?, 8 April 2006
10/10
Author: cflpeace from United States

The tragedy of this film is that it's not playing in every theatre in the U.S. so it can be seen by the people who most need to see it. Thank you, Korean American friend of a friend who shared it with us.

See this film if you or someone care about is thinking about signing up to go into the military. See it if have been, or if you've ever known anyone who was, in a war. See it if you have ever seen a peace march - live or on television - and asked,"What's it all about?" See it if you love life.

Don't worry; it's not propaganda or any kind. It just takes us to the scene of the action, sets us down, then lets us get to know some very real people and watch what happens.

Carolfrances

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
of North and South, 5 January 2006
9/10
Author: Meganeguard from Kansas

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

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.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Gorgeous and well told tale of war..., 22 February 2007
10/10
Author: BlessedB_uk from United Kingdom

Upon approaching this flick i was a tad sceptical - i knew with the cast, director and musical score covered nicely - there was no reason for it to be a let down, but i always find myself slightly dubious of war films. JSA was fantastic though so i gritted my teeth, held my breath and hoped for the best. Absolutely F'in glad i did, its such a well shot beautiful tale, the cinematography is highly original for the premise of a war film, the colours and dialogue were spot on and the actors all came correct. I found myself wishing that i could just F it all and go live in that cool village with that crazy girl for the rest of my days, ha ha. Thats not to say this film is completely void of any gritty (and sometimes gory) realism on the 'war' front but it just doesn't focus so much on the agony, more so on the individual and the reasons behind such atrocities. Its not a short film, but i found myself not wanting it to end. Some scenes in particular bring light relief and patch the whole thing up into a marvellous little epic. I highly highly recommend it to fans of beautiful cinema.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Charming, 22 September 2006
7/10
Author: Ferdinand2000 from England

Charming feel good story set during the Korean War. Hard to believe but true! The characters are easy to identify with, and draw you into the story. They are fairly believable, with the slight exception of the North Korean commander who seems perhaps too heroic. It verges on being trite or cheesy at times, idolizing the "quaint" village, but for the most part stays away from that. The film is even handed in its treatment of all sides in this war, other than perhaps the military command, as it is quite anti-war. There is a bit of violence and gore, so it isn't for young children. I would recommend this to anyone; go in expecting a fairly romanticized comedy and you shouldn't be disappointed.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
2006 Far East Festival Winner, 4 May 2006
10/10
Author: supercd84 from Udine, Italy

This movie won the 2006 Udine Far East Festival a big festival about Asian cinematography. At the end of the screening the audience applauded the director Kwang-Hyun Park and the movie for 5 minutes and gave him the audience award with a clear margin above the other festival movies (and many movies where very good!) This is a great film. The story is a great mix of dramatic and comical moments, with some interesting characters as the crazy girl of Dongmakgol (Hye-jeong Kang) and the northern and southern soldiers. Technically the movie is beautiful. Great visuals, simple but effective and good editing that keeps a good pace though all the film. The musics are good but there is no score that you are going to remember. The acting is very good and all the main actors can keep up well all the changes in the mood of the movie and they can do both good comical scenes and dramatic ones. I have no great experience in Korean movies, but this one is surely the best one i've ever seen and I suggest to try and see it, i'm sure that you will have no regrets in doing that.

(Sorry for my "stumbling" English, i'm Italian and i'm not so good in learning foreign languages :P )

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
War. What is it good for?, 28 May 2006
8/10
Author: rivermanfire from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Wonderful fairy tale movie! A charming village full of innocent, simple people really show some jaded soldiers how to step out of that mentality of fear. In the process of dealing with personal demons and bonding with the villagers, a wonderful transformation takes place between the North and South Korean soldiers toward each other.

The bonding between the soldiers and villagers and the innocence that the soldiers try to protect really hits home. The village's crazy girl was quite endearing --another symbol of innocence which is a major theme. She will remind you of a little child that never grows.

All the politics and harsh realities of the war is secondary to the possibility that the village of Dongmakgol represents. Though more jaded folks might blast the movie as ignoring reality, we all could use a break from all the hate and war in the world couldn't we?

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