This movie was on my recommendations list from netflix for the longest time and the cover looked like a straight-to-video movie. Then i finally said oh well. And i was blown away. The acting and story was really heartbreaking. Park really knows what he's doing. Highly highly recommended
I love when you watch a movie and it blows you away. I did the same with Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. I put off watching it for a long time, because after bearing witness to The Isle and The Coast Guard I didn't think I would be able to handle another Ki Duk Kim film. And the I gave Spring, Summer... a chance and was blown away.
I think I did the same thing with JSA to a certain extent because it's a "war" movie, but now it's one of my favorite films.
You're right...the cover of the DVD (not to mention the title of the film) makes it look like somethind Brian Bosworth would star in. The film is wonderful, however, and just exemplifies the old addage of not "judging a book by it's cover".
On a similar note, another movie that recently fell into this category for me was The Iron Giant...looks like another stupid kid's cartoon and turned out to be a beautiful film...also highly recommended
>>You're right...the cover of the DVD (not to mention the title of the film) makes it look like somethind Brian Bosworth would star in.<< I'm glad I don't know who Brian Bosworth is then =) I heard about this through IMDB, and I knew who Song Kang-Ho was so gave it a chance, and was I ever more glad I did! Watched it for the second time the other night, and found it even more powerful. The boyfriend was very impressed as well. Is it because we're both from countries that were in some way seperated at some point in time (Germany and Rep. of Ireland)? Don't knwow, I just thought everything was perfect about this one.
With the exception of the young asian woman (whose acting leaves a bit to be desired) the movie is terrific. I keep meaning to watch it again but I have so many other great (hopefully) movies to get to that I keep putting it off. I really can't wait to watch it again though.
I had this movie on my shelf for over a year. I watched the first part with the woman and her investigation and I was so bored I turned it off and let the dvd collect dust. Then I recently turned it back on, bore through the first part and wow I was so surprised and happy to see the rest of the movie is incredible. I knew I should of trusted dir Park and the two lead actors, Lee and Song, who are two of my favorites of Korean actors.