Thursday 28 May 2009

Welcome to Dongmakgol


Dir: Kwang-Hyun Park
Starring: Hye-Jeong Kang, Jae-yeong Jong

Ah, how Narry B loves daft leading ladies. They come no dafter than Yeo-il in Welcome to Dongmakgol. A silly, lovely, airhead of a girl who prances around the valleys of Korea like they're her playground.

The story is quaint, too: During the Korean civil war, two groups of opposing soldiers stumble across a village deep in the mountains. The village is hundreds of years behind the times, unaware that there is even a war.

The naeivety of the villagers gives a chance for some wonderfully childish antics: singing, dancing, silly games, and traditional festivals.

Unfortunately, starring alongside the wonderful Yeo-il is a cliched white guy. I’ll never understand why there are so many awful western actors in asian films. They’re awful! Dongmakgol's wannabe-actor is Steve Taschler - he rivals Natalie Portman for woodenness.

Despite that, Dongmakgol has some magical moments, even if the war theme is a bit too strong and ends up detracting from the wonderment with its overbearing seriousness.

If you’ve ever wanted to see a wild boar being felled in slow motion, now's your chance.

Rating: Good!

3 comments:

  1. They should rename her Natalie Wood II.

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  2. With a name like that, this movie has to be good.

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  3. Aye, the Koreans know how to name a film.

    ReplyDelete