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Amazing Movie!!!
The acting of all the main cast was amazing especially Do Kyungsoo. I watched this movie because I love musical and dancing movies. I didn't realize that I would get that and a very deep story about the reality of war. While the story was slightly cliche, it was cliche in a good way. First of all, major props to Do Kyungsoo and the rest of the cast. I think most of the cast had no prior experience tap dancing, so you can definitely see their dedication to acting through work they must have put in to learn how to tap dance so well. All of the tap dancing scenes were so fun to watch. I also enjoyed how the movie got deeper and commented on the reality of war . Overall an amazing movie that I would definitely rewatch after giving myself some time to recover.Was this review helpful to you?
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Criminally underrated masterpiece showcasing the horrors of warfare & bigotry
I am so astounded at how underrated this film is when it honestly deserves to rack up big time on awards and is an absolute must watch. I’m not usually a big movie enjoyer and I am disappointed by most films I watch, but this film is a masterpiece and I think on par with big-name films like Parasite. I find it unfortunate that it seems to only be EXO-Ls who have watched it to support Kyungsoo with few outlying viewers. I think this film would get more accolades it deserves if there were simply more eyes seeing it than there are.One of my biggest issues with war movies is they’re constantly used as propaganda to fulfill an agenda of favoring one side over another. Depending on the nationality of the writer, there’s often going to be a massive slant to paint one side as the hero and one side as totally evil. There’s also often little humanization for the innocent civilians and casualties. In doing so, these films desensitize the horror of war and we forget there’s a name and life and passion behind every human being who is lost to the war. This film does justice to everything that war movies so constantly mess up. It humanizes the civilians and it showcases how love and passion can transcend borders, nationality, language, political ideology, gender, and race and bring people together despite our differences. Simultaneously, it showcases how war is often fueled by ignorant leaders and racism that takes the lives of those aforementioned humans who have a name, life, and passion.
This film utilizes its contrasting tones and genres masterfully as a weapon for an ulterior motive, which is something movie critics who faulted these opposing storytelling elements seemed to not understand. I will admit the ending of this film is extremely heavy, and I really had to sit with it and think to reach acceptance. When engaging with fiction, we often jump to conclusions that upsetting events in a finale are bad writing, but that’s not always the case; not all fiction exists for escapism. This story is so heartbreaking in order to get its point across. Sometimes art makes us uncomfortable on purpose. In this case, Swing Kids’ grim ending and contrasting tragedy and comedy was meant to bring attention to a cruel reality. It does not matter how well we know someone, how happy they seem, how passionate they are about something (in this case, tap dance), how much growth they’ve made, how much we love them. War takes and it takes and it takes, and no amount of love we have for a person makes them exempt from being casualties. This film did a disquieting job of humanizing all of our main protagonists from different nationalities and walks of life and showing their love and shared passion for tap dancing, but with the chilling reminder that these jolly people who made us laugh and who we rooted for ARE the casualties we lose to war and racism in reality.
I would also like to take a moment to appreciate Kyungsoo and Jared Grimes’ incredible work in this film. From what I understand, Kyungsoo learned to tap dance for this role, and Jared Grimes learned to act for this role. You would not know that the two of them were treading such unfamiliar territory from their impeccable performances. Stellar film overall.
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26/01/2024
In brief, it is more or less a story around a POW camp in Korea in 1950 and a black American soldier forming a tap dance team to perform.
Some parts are really cheesy whether trying to pull off humour or not. Also, some of the actors were like B or C grade so something about it was kind of a hit and miss because of these noticeable flaws yet the parts that were solid were really really solid.
The main Korean ML was totally awesome as was the character - M. Jackson. The tap dance team were quite cool too as individuals and as a team.
This could have been absolutely brilliant had the English speaking actors been better excluding the guy that acted as M Jackson, also, if it had been directed and produced a bit differently maybe.
Using David Bowie's Modern Love song for the time period wasn't probably the greatest call, but it was indeed a wonderful tribute to him and did go well with the dance scene for it.
This really could have been an A grade film!
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F**k ideology
It is said that no happiness thrives during war times. You either kill or get killed, it’s all about survival no matter who you are against to. And yet, movies and pieces of media like this teach us that modern times are worry free and meaningless in the face of true mid-war misery. Even so, we would like to imagine they still had at least one drop of happiness during these times, be it fictional of not.This movie not only portrays the fight for life that is war, but also sensitive topics that still apply to this day: ideology, power abuse by high ranked people, race discrimination, poverty instigated by war, domination and territory take over. All people are more or less equal and entitled for survival during war, even so, the best to deceive and take advantage is the one to win. Fool or be fooled kind of situation. Amidst all of this, five random people form a group to… dance? Who would have thought tap dance would be so entertaining to watch? I had a good feeling about this movie once I saw the poster and read the synopsis. I do not know much about tap dance or 50s American dance and culture, but I know for a fact that a bunch of bullied and discriminated people portrayed what freedom through dance means so damn well.
“A group made up of a Chinese prisoner who would’ve been a brilliant choreographer if it wasn’t for war, a bright confident strong-willed young woman who was forced to provide for her family after losing both her parents, a civilian who became a prisoner only because he was wrongfully accused of being the commies; a Communist dance who could’ve stood on the stage of the Carnegie Hall if it wasn’t for the political ideology and… a humble black man who has found his only friends in life in this four individuals. Ladies and gentlemen… we are… the SWING KIDS!”
And so they danced, they danced like they were free birds on their way to Broadway and the great great country of possibilities and freedom, America. Dance and music, these two fine arts have existed since the time of Gods and before that, but they are still the most expressive and fascinating universal language that breaks any kind of prejudice, barrier or fucking ideology and as far as it gets until the world will collapse on itself and there will be no music, no dancing and no laughter.
During the entire movie we see here and there tactical and war focused strategy and terminology, but the ending, I believe it’s a realistic one. No war causalities or compensation can cover the tragedy that happened during every kind of war, yet still, humanity will find another reason to dance and sing as if nothing happened.
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Stellar!
Honestly I heard about this movie from different variety shows so I decided to watch it...I was NOT disappointed!First of all, the cinematography was pretty cool...I loved the camera angle choices that were made in some shots, and the close ups weren't overly done.
Now the acting in this movie solidified D.O. as one of the best idols-turned-actors out there. I got to see a range of emotions in his scenes, particularly in the tragedy that happened in the end. It was so beautiful to watch!
The other casts involved also did very well in the movie but I think they were slightly overshadowed by D.O.
I will say though that it seemed like a lot was going on with the plot of the movie...I think it would have been a lot more brilliant the the synopsis was a lot more cohesive.
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Laugh and cry with the swing kids
If you like comedies and tragedies, you will definitely love this movie. It has the best of both worlds. They manage to make you chuckle at unexpected times and make you forget how tragic the setting is.The cast is heavenly and the acting is top notch. None of the actors will let you down. I got attached to the Swing Kids more than i expected : they bonded in the most wonderful way, communicating through dancing, forgetting everything else.
Per usual, Do Kyung Soo and Oh Jung Se formed perfectly. I was veryyyy surprised by Park Hye Soo, i didn't see much of her works but i have to say that her acting as well as her dancing were just beautifully executed.
Those actors showed us unity in a way that made you wish for them to be happy and free like this forever. Them dancing so happily was contagious and warmed my tiny heart.
The movie director also played with lightings which i liked. The bright scenes were full of hope when the dark scenes showed how bittersweet and temporary all of those were.
Only down side for me was the brother... I won't say more, if you've seen the movie, you'd know !
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Overall, I really think it's a great movie, the writers thought it well, the actors were beyond a doubt able to portray their characters, and it changes from the romcoms I always watch. Thus, I highly recommend this movie to pretty much everyone with 2h30 hours to spare.
To end this review, I must write that despite how nice I now think tap dance can be, I still think they look really dumb without the special shoes on.
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I started this movie without knowing much about it, i only knew it was about tap dancing and park hye soo was acting in it and that was enough for me. The first hour or so made me feel like i was flying on top of the clouds. The movie has a was of making you feel so good, it sets the atmosphere so beautifully that you forget the surroundings the movie is set in and everything that could go wrong, you only focus on dancing and these people who do it freakishly well.
Then came the second half of the movie, the part you should have known was coming but you still get caught off guard because the mood so far has been always so happy. The second part is painfull to watch, you find yourself straining yourself and squeezing you fists tighter and tighter. But through all that the movie still gives you a glimpse of hope, hope that even in the midst of chaos there is still something that they can hold onto, dancing. But of course nothing is ever that easy and the movie reminds that to you like a heavy stone has been put on your heart.
The dancing sequenceses in this movie were beyond amazing both in the dance itself and the scene and it's meaining. The acting and the soundtrack were amazing. The relationship formed by these five entirely different indivicuals is so heartwarming but also heart-wrecnhing. There are still so much to talk about the topics the movie nails touching upon such as racism, idoelogy and much more but i think those are subjects people should experience watching this movie. In conclusion i definitly recommend this movie with all my heart and i think it is a movie that everyone should watch.
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La musique n'adoucit pas forcément les mœurs de tout le monde.
Que dire ??? Je l’ai adoré !!!Ce film a été longuement applaudi et nous l’avons reçu en plein cœur, à la fin bouleversés et abasourdis ! Tout y est excellent : l’idée de départ, le mélange des genres « film de guerre/comédie musicale », l’excellence des interprètes qui allient leur immense talent de danseurs à une grande justesse et finesse d’interprétation, et l’évolution du scénario qui commence comme une charmante et aimable pochade sur « on s’amuse bien chez les prisonniers » puis qui s’oriente progressivement vers une toute autre sortie qui nous a laissés cloués dans nos fauteuils ! Les Coréens ont l’immense talent de savoir très habilement mélanger les genres et ne jamais oublier l’humour, qui équilibre la cruauté brutale de la vie, comme on a pu le voir dans le monde entier avec « parasite », qui lui aussi passe de la farce à la tragédie avec maestria.
Je souligne l’immense talent de Do Kyung So, qui grâce à sa formation dans le boys-band EXO interprète ce jeune danseur de génie de façon éblouissante, tout en lui donnant force et humanité par un jeu d’acteur parfaitement maîtrisé ! Je pense que ce garçon ira loin, si vous voulez mon avis !! Les Américains sont très bien, particulièrement Jared Grimes ! Lui aussi que et danse parfaitement !
En conclusion, je ne saurais trop vous conseiller de vous débrouiller pour le trouver, et si par miracle il était distribué en France, courrez-y, parce que sur grand écran et son stéréo, c’est autre chose !!
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O final foi chocante, mas ilustra muito bem o que é a guerra.
As atuações são muito boas, especialmente a atuação do D.O., essa é a primeira vez que eu gostei de um personagem dele, e olha que já assisti quase todos os filmes dele.
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