In June 1950, soon after the start of the Korean War, a troop of North Korean soldiers enter a small South Korean village. Captain Jeong-woong proclaims that they came to liberate the villagers but their true agenda is to ferret out the reactionaries. The villagers and Seol-hee, who is separated from her fiance on her wedding day, offer them heartfelt hospitality and cooperation to avoid falling out of the army's favor. Eventually friendships starts to build up between the soldiers and the villagers.
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Reviews
Now I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this movie, especially since the beginning starts off pretty slow. But the build up is good enough to care for the characters in this movie. And that is what counts when it comes to a movie like this. So the plot is about the North Korean Army occupying a small village in the south and the bond between one of the village girl and the North Korean Lieutenant. The movie gets more touching as it progresses and is well developed and directed. I first thought this was going to be a movie that tries to be serious but isn't, mainly because of the way the characters are portrayed and the cinematography. As it turns out it's a movie that has a good dose of comedy and serious moments. The movie is over 2 hours but it didn't feel that long because I enjoyed spending time with the characters in the village and even when it came to the North Korean Lieutenant. This movie sort of reminded me of "Welcome to Dongmakgol" because it has to do with South and North Korean soldiers in a village full of naive people and the relationship and bonding amongst them. I liked this a bit more though since it has more humanistic and emotional aspect that draws the audience in a bit quicker. And since the characters seemed a bit more believable and likable and the comedy worked a bit better in this. In fact if both these movies came out at the same time this one might have been a bigger hit. Even if the message is sort of similar between the two films.8/10
I absolutely loved this movie. I made this IMDb page for it just because I wanted more people to see it. It's a beautiful blend of comedy and tragedy, and the characters and the acting are great. The director and story writers did a superb job of showing the complexities of war and the complexities of human nature, and the film delivers gives a biting commentary on the fruits of war. The quiet, tender scenes in this film are just as great as the dramatic ones. I also loved the fact that I really did not know how it was going to end. There were moments where it was hilarious and and moments where it was serious, but up till almost the very end I wasn't sure whether the characters would get their happy ending or not. Watch the movie and find out for yourself. I highly recommend it.
