Phungsan Dog - Korean Movie

I am still digesting all that Rainflower and Rita have said about this movie: I am now rewatching parts to freshen up my views and feelings before I respond. Here is the movie poster. This movie is nothing if not intense. I read an article that this was one of the movies that the S. Korean movie industry was considering submitting for American Oscars best foreign film consideration. They did not submit this film. I can't remember which one they did submit for consideration for nomination. This pic might be rather large I will post my thoughts shortly.

jeanie i wish i had know u were logged on i wld hv asked u to create the thread & with the poster/info/trailer & then our reviews to follow right now its a little back to fromt lol

Oh pls post ur trailer here to entice people to watch it :D

Very good idea, RF, to create a thread. :)
Here's the comment I copied from the poor kissing booth (LOL)


If I should rate this movie now, I'd be at a loss.
Yoon Kye Sang is, indeed, awesome. Wow. The man is truly intense. Not many would be able to convey so much without speaking one single word. This is the first movie I saw him in and I am deeply impressed, not only by the man himself and his undeniable handsome looks, but by his acting most of all.
I liked the general idea of the movie, mostly the fact that no details about this man are given. We know nothing of him, somehow he exists only in that narrow strip of territory between the north and the south. But I disliked the use of violence. Don't get me wrong, I have watched violent movies before and liked many of them, but at times it seems gratuitous here. I almost had the impression the director found a morbid pleasure in showing torture. I wasn't expecting a nice ending, and her death - although horrible - was predictable. But his death wasn't necessary. I can very well imagine such a "job" would one day lead him to his premature death, but I saw no reason to end the movie with it.
And although his revenge was very rewarding, I think it wasn't well directed. The intervention of the good south korean agent makes no sense: why opening the door and then point the gun? If it was meant to emphasize the absurdity of the north/south conflict, it failed in poignancy, in my opinion.
It disturbs me a little that whenever the issue South vs. North Korea is touched in a movie, it's always about spies and corrupted agents. Almost nothing is said about the real people. I have huge doubts a woman would decide to cross the border and risk her life in the space of some minutes, without decent explanation or some time to really ponder the matter.

The kiss was truly heart-wrenching, as you anticipated. At that point, knowing they were probably going to die any minute, it was really the best thing they could do. And I thought she was very brave, the actress just as intense as him.

In conclusion, I liked it and I'm glad you recommended it, jeanie. If you hadn't, I would have been deterred by the fact that it was produced by Kim Ki Duk, thinking he was also the director of it. I promised myself to never watch one of his movies again, after the atrocious experience with The Isle (please never watch this movie. It's painful and disgusting). But luckily in this case he didn't direct, only produced. Nevertheless, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, not only because it's such a terrible story about a bunch of bastards (excuse the french) and the absurdity of it all, but also for some lack in the movie itself, which I can't really pinpoint.
In any case, I need to sleep over it (hopefully without nightmares about some torture), since it's 3.58 a.m. here.
Thanks for reading. A big hug! :)

Ah Jeanie u hv a way with words :)

i like u didnt realise initially that he wasnt speaking i thought he was just being the "brooding silent type" i only realised it in the kiss scene where he starts screaming that he couldnt speak cos if he could he certainly wld hv done then. Yes i too was left wondering about his back story what compels him to do what he does, what happened to him in his past, how come he cant speak all these questions left unanswered add poignancy to the film

YKS does an awesome acting job particularly as he has no words/dialogue to express himself its all in the eyes ...sigh. I had only seen him before in TGL & this role was a complete departure.

On a plus note at least he didnt have any lines to learn lol

Oh, I love these kind of debates - at times I love them more than the show itself. :)
Anyway, I had my good night sleep - without nightmares - and this morning gave the movie an overall 8. It's the arithmetic mean between a 10 for acting and a 6 for story-telling.
I loved your review, Jeanie and RF's too, but I still maintain the plot is inconsistent, and the pace "broken", or limping. Without the impressive performance of the lead actor, I would have given up the movie after half an hour, with no wish to go back to it.
But clearly the story is centred around this mysterious man and in this sense, the job was wonderfully done. I went in search of some info about the Phungsan Dog and found out that:

"Pungsan are a common breed in North Korea. This breed is extremely rare outside of North Korea. Pungsan dogs are very strong and agile because of their past in mountainous regions. They have traditionally been used for hunting large animals, including Amur Tigers. They have a lot of stamina and therefore require extensive exercise. Pungsan tend to be loyal to their owners and whoever they are comfortable with. Everyone else will be ignored, unless they invade in what is to be perceived as their space or territory. They'll only bark at other people when it is necessary to do so." -- Wikipedia

I found this interesting, because although we are led to believe the title comes from the cigarettes he smokes, in fact the reference is to the dog. The only time he "barks" - when he shouts in that cellar - is when someone is threatening the person he's loyal to, in this case the woman he loves. Everyone else will be ignored: he never reveals who's side he's on. I suppose he couldn't care less: both sides are wrong.

This said, I still wish for a movie dealing with such a delicate and tragic situation as the north and south korean rift to dig a little deeper into the reasons on both sides instead of leaving us with the, sorry, trite message: wars are senseless.

A few months back when I saw this movie was released I had to look it up, anticipating when it would be subbed so I could watch it. When I googled, everything that came up was about the Phungsan Dog. I also saw there was a brand of cigs with the name but I always equated him with the dog rather than the cigs...but I never registered the personality of the breed with the title character in the film...now I feel stupid I didn't because OH MAN! That is exactly it...exactly what the writer must have wanted to convey. Good catch Rita!

And the message that both sides are wrong is exactly what I actually like about his choice of revenge in the "cellar room". Where he just feeds them weapons to destroy eachother. It's so stupid and futile and yet...I was right there with him. Maybe I'm blood thirsty but I'm glad it happened that way. Those idiots saw no reason to "reason" things out with eachother and he knew they wouldn't. One at a time and then all together, they just destroyed eachother. And after what they did to him, as I was watching, I was glad. Small consolation for him, if any at all but that is how I felt as the viewer.

Wow, not only I loved your review on the movie, jeanie, but I had missed these photographs you posted. It's incredible: he looks like a completely different man! :o
I'm always in awe of actors who can change features thanks to their acting different parts. From the photos I can imagine him smiling, something he never did in this movie, did he?