This deserves a higher rating. I'm guessing there might be some who objected to the Ha Ri Soo part, especially in Korea. Really enjoyed it. Love comes to us in many ways, and when the ones you love are hurt, or hurt you, or you hurt them, the pain from those hurts is equal to the amount of love.
I saw this movie years ago. It was great then and it's still great now. There's a reason why it's called A Classic. The striking thing about this movie is the brutality in the school system. I remember being horrified the first time I saw this, not believing such a thing was true. I was sure it was exaggerated. But I have learned there was no exaggeration. I have a close friend who served in Viet Nam. I was talking to him about it and how the viciousness of the teachers bled into the behavior of the children. He said you have to remember the time period (1978) and who those teachers were. They were brutal men who had spent their entire youth in war. WWII, Korean War, and VietNam. They had seen and done horrible things. Most of them were badly damaged. He said when he served in Nam they were all afraid of the Korean soldiers because they were so ferocious. They would arrive on choppers and leap from them on ropes and fly down. Their camp would be set up in moments away from everyone else. They would paint their faces. Within days their camp would be surrounded by stakes with human heads on them. While things have certainly changed as far as the physical abuse in Korea, the psychological abuse still continues...and the bullying seems to have no end. :(
A sweet movie filled with the much younger faces of a lot of people I see now who are in their 40's. That was fun. The brothers actually get along better than the synopsis leads us to believe, but there is definitely a strong rivalry. Won Bin's character as the 'beautiful' but troubled son goes too far and the eventual price he has to pay means there is a tragedy at the end of the story. It definitely tugs at your heart, but it's not a weep fest...for me anyway. Just a cautionary tale.
A very disheartening story of growing old. While I am sure there are stories like this in every country, Korea (and countries like it) have no mandated Social Security system for when people grow old. Most of the elderly spent every cent they had on raising their children with the idea that, like their generation had to, their children would be taking care of them in their old age. But with the crisis in unemployment and high cost of living in S Korea, their children, in many cases, are unable to do so...and of course there are those who are just unwilling. This movie shows a very bleak life ahead for the elderly in Korea, while at the same time sharing a wonderful story of a woman who retained her humanity and kindness and love for others despite living a hopeless and degrading life. Really well done movie. 9/10
Well....I loved 'looking' at it! :) Great cinematography, stunt and action coordination, sets. Really, it is terrific to look at, especially on a big screen. And has some of my favorite guys: Kang, Jung, and Kim. Nice 2+ hours of visuals and adrenaline rushes. I wasn't that confused about the agendas of everyone, because it was pretty clear they all had their own agendas and none of them was afraid to sink to the lowest common denominator to achieve it. No saints, just a lot of sinners. Enjoyed it quite a bit. A lot of hard work went into this. 8/10
The striking thing about this movie is the brutality in the school system. I remember being horrified the first time I saw this, not believing such a thing was true. I was sure it was exaggerated. But I have learned there was no exaggeration. I have a close friend who served in Viet Nam. I was talking to him about it and how the viciousness of the teachers bled into the behavior of the children. He said you have to remember the time period (1978) and who those teachers were. They were brutal men who had spent their entire youth in war. WWII, Korean War, and VietNam. They had seen and done horrible things. Most of them were badly damaged. He said when he served in Nam they were all afraid of the Korean soldiers because they were so ferocious. They would arrive on choppers and leap from them on ropes and fly down. Their camp would be set up in moments away from everyone else. They would paint their faces. Within days their camp would be surrounded by stakes with human heads on them.
While things have certainly changed as far as the physical abuse in Korea, the psychological abuse still continues...and the bullying seems to have no end. :(
the subs are off, but you get the gist
subs are a bit off, but it's understandable...but I only watched about 5 minutes