Welcome to Dongmakgol
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Welcome to Dongmakgol, UK Battle Ground 625 |
| Original title | Welkeom tu dongmakgol |
| Country of production | South Korea |
| original language | Korean |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 133 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Kwang-hyun Park |
| script |
Jang Jin , Park Kwang-hyun, Kim Joong |
| production | Jang Jin, Lee Eun-ha , Ji Sang-yong |
| music | Joe Hisaishi |
| camera | Choi Sang-ho |
| cut | Choi Min-young |
| occupation | |
| |
Welcome to Dongmakgol (original title: 웰컴 투 동막골 , Welkeom tu Dongmakgol) is the debut feature of South Korean director Park Kwang-hyun in 2005. It is based on the same stage work of the playwright Jang Jin , Welcome to Dongmakgol was a commercial success and was in South Korea has received many awards.
The story takes place at the beginning of the Korean War in 1950 . In a remote village, the residents of which have had no contact with the outside world for a long time, are ignorant of modern technology and weapons and are unaware of the conflict in their own country, South and North Korean units and an American Navy pilot meet.
Welcome to Dongmakgol was South Korea's official entry to the 2005 Academy Awards and the fourth-most successful South Korean film of all time at the time.
action
US Navy pilot Neil Smith (Steve Taschler) gets caught in a storm of butterflies and crashes while flying over a remote part of Korea. He is found and nursed back to health by a few locals. Time seems to have stood still in the small village of Dongmakgol . The residents have no idea of modern technology such as pistols or grenades and are unaware of the conflict between North and South Korea.
Meanwhile, not far from the village, a battle between North and South Korean units takes place, in which most of the North Koreans are killed.
Three surviving soldiers from the north manage to escape through a mountain passage. The soldiers Rhee Soo-hwa (Jung Jae-young), Jang Young-hee (Im Ha-ryong) and Seo Taek-gi (Ryu Deok-hwan) are found by a strange-looking girl, Yeo-il (Kang Hye) . This leads them to the village, where, to their astonishment, they meet two other South Korean soldiers, Pyo Hyun-Chul (Shin Ha-Kyun) and Mond Sang-sang (Seo Jae-Kyung). These soldiers deserted their unit and were also taken to the village where the US soldier is already.
The unexpected encounter leads to a confrontation in which the different sides keep each other in check with their weapons. This takes several days. The villagers have no idea what this is about and wonder why the soldiers are pointing at each other with the funny sticks (guns).
The situation only ends when one of the soldiers drops a grenade from tiredness. Another soldier heroically throws his body at the grenade, which does not explode. The soldier throws the dud over his shoulder with disdain, and it rolls into the warehouse where the villagers keep their winter supplies. There it explodes, destroying the supplies, which are literally raining from the sky like popcorn.
The two groups of Korean soldiers and Smith now realize that their quarrel has put the village to starvation next winter. They work together to help the residents till the fields to repair the damage they caused, and even work together to kill a dangerous wild boar that is threatening the village.
Tensions between the two groups of Korean soldiers are slowly easing, with memories of the terrible war haunting both groups.
Meanwhile, the Allied commanders, who have also lost other aircraft in the area, are planning a mission to rescue Smith. They mistakenly believe that Smith was captured by enemy units and is being held in a hidden base. The plan, after Smith is found and liberated, is to level the village where anti-aircraft guns are suspected to be.
The rescue team, led by their commander (David Joseph Anselmo), parachuted during the night and suffered heavy losses due to the impassable terrain. They enter the village and, assuming it is cover for an enemy base, they begin rounding up the villagers.
Despite efforts by the villagers to disguise the Korean soldiers as villagers, a firefight breaks out, killing all but one of the rescue team. Yeo-il is also fatally hit by a bullet. The only survivor of the rescue team is the Korean translator, whom Smith narrowly missed with a bullet. He is captured by the villagers.
The villagers learn of the planned destruction of the village through the translator. The North and South Korean soldiers realize that Smith does not have time to reach his base to prevent the bombing. To save the village, they plan to use the equipment of the rescue team to build a dummy of the enemy base so that they themselves can be attacked instead of the village.
Smith is sent back with the translator to convince the Americans that the village will not pose a threat if more bombers are sent. The plan succeeds and all North and South Korean soldiers die in a hail of bombs. The village was saved, but at the expense of the former enemies who had become friends.
background
Jang Jin, managing director of the small South Korean production company Film It Suda , was impressed by Park Kwang-hyun's short film My Nike from 2002. He commissioned the young director to direct the film adaptation of his successful play Welcome to Dongmakgol . The final script was the result of 18 months of work by Jang Jin, Park Kwang-hyun and VFX supervisor Kim Joong.
The film was planned with a budget of four billion South Korean won (just under 3 million euros), and mostly unknown actors were hired who had already worked for Jang's production company Film It Suda . However, the filming and visual effects in post-production took longer than expected, and the budget doubled to over eight billion won. This put Film It Suda in financial difficulties and, if the film had not been successful, could have led to its bankruptcy.
Park has been a huge fan of anime director Hayao Miyazaki since he saw his film Future Boy Conan as a child . One of Miyazaki's most important collaborators was the Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi . While working on the script, Park heard recordings of Hisaishi's film compositions and often thought of his music as he developed the individual scenes. When asked in preproduction by co-producer Lee Eun-ha who the composer should be for the score , he didn't hesitate to name Joe Hisaishi . Lee writes a warm letter to Hisaishi, explaining the situation and having the script translated into Japanese. Hisaishi accepted the offer, later saying that he was impressed with the enthusiasm and seriousness of the letter, which led him to work on his first ever Korean film.
reception
Welcome to Dongmakgol received mostly positive reviews. Manfred Selzer from Asian Movie Web attests to an unusual magic that makes him definitely worth seeing. However, he also criticizes the predictable plot.
“With his debut, director Park Kwang-Hyun is really doing above-average work. A film that skillfully combines drama, comedy and anti-war issues, but always retains something fairytale-like. "
Awards
- Award in the categories
- Best Supporting Actor for Im Ha-ryong
- Best Supporting Actress for Kang Hye-jung
- Audience Award Most Popular Film
- Nominated in the categories
- Best movie
- Best artistic design
- Best music for Joe Hisaishi
- Best script for Jang Jin, Park Kwang-hyun and Kim Joong
- Best visual effects for Jo Yi-seok
- Best director for Park Kwang-hyun
Korean Film Awards 2005
- Award in the categories
- Best movie
- Best Director for Park Kwang-hyun
- Best Supporting Actress for Kang Hye-jung
- Best script for Jang Jin, Park Kwang-hyun and Kim Joong
- Best music for Joe Hisaishi
- Best New Director for Park Kwang-hyun
- Nominated in the categories
- Best Actor for Jung Jae-young
- Best Supporting Actor for Im Ha-ryong
- Best camera for Choi Sang-ho
- Best cut for Choi Min-young
- Best visual effects for Jo Yi-seok
- Best New Actor for Ryu Deok-hwan
Directors Cut Awards 2005
- Best Actor for Jung Jae-young
Baeksang Arts Awards 2006 nomination in the category
- Best New Director for Park Kwang-hyun
Grand Bell Awards 2006
- Award in the category
- Best Supporting Actress for Kang Hye-jung
- Nominated in the categories
- Best movie
- Best Supporting Actor for Im Ha-ryong
- Best script for Jang Jin, Park Kwang-hyun and Kim Joong
- Best visual effects for Jo Yi-seok
- Best music for Joe Hisaishi
- Best sound for Blue Cap
- Best New Director for Park Kwang-hyun
Web links
- Welcome to Dongmakgol in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official page for the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tae-jong Kim: Playwright Takes On Big Screen . In: The Korea Times via Hancinema . August 7, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Kim Tae-jong Bae Keun-min: Plays, Films Feel Synergy Effect . In: The Korea Times via Hancinema . December 27, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ More Comments from the 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) Cast . In: Twitch Film . August 1, 2005. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Philip Dorsey Iglauer: Korean War Enemies Team Up in Dongmakgol . In: The Korea Times via Hancinema . August 4, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ Welcome to Dongmakgol selected as Korea's Oscar entry . In: Korean Film Biz Zone . September 16, 2005. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ↑ a b K-FILM REVIEWS: 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) . In: Twitch Film . January 16, 2006. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ Director Park Gwang-hyun, 'Welcome to my movies' . In: KBS Global . December 7, 2005. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved on December 17, 2012.
- ↑ 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) Press Screening Report . In: Twitch Film . July 20, 2005. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2012.