welcome to dongmakgol (2005)
a fallen pilot from the american allied forces, two south korean escaped soldiers, and three north korean guerrilla soldiers coincidentally meet in a secluded village called dongmakgol, where its villagers have never seen a gun or heard of the ongoing korean war - what could possibly happen?
what takes place in the next 2 hours of screentime is a lovely mix of comedy, drama, wartime violence, nostalgia, and heartwarming relationships that makes welcome to dongmakgol one of the better reunification films i’ve seen thus far.
what really distinguishes welcome to dongmakgol from other war films, though, apart from the creation of dongmakgol itself, is the injection of absurd comedic moments (as the koreans might say, gags) that had me chuckling in my seat. those who watched the film would know - from the explosion of popcorn to the guerrilla soldiers wasting their ammunition on killing snakes - and in some way this resembles bong’s trademark casual juxtaposition of comedic moments and grave topics. yet what welcome to dongmakgol did not neglect to do was to emphasise the severe trauma war could cause soldiers, regardless of which side of the fence they stood on. to this, i found the ensemble acting so solid i felt for every character, even the unnamed villagers. it was also a pleasure to see young jung jae-young (!!), shin ha-kyun, and kang hye-jung.
its ending, where the north and korean soldiers leave dongmakgol to create a decoy base to prevent the american forces from bombing the village, definitely brought a tear to my eye. as did the departure scene, where the dongmakgol villagers - not knowing the magnitude of the soldiers’ sacrifice - weep goodbye to the strangers they had sincerely welcomed and taken care of. ultimately, i think welcome to dongmakgol is at heart a pacifist film, with dongmakgol representing a pre-war simplicity and innocence that both sides (and the director) yearn for.
(i was surprised by how explicitly anti-american certain scenes were, especially in depicting american soldiers’ disregard towards bombing potential communist bases, despite risking civilian lives. interestingly, this film was released around the same time as the host - and forms part of the anti-american zeitgeist of the early 2000s, while shedding light on foreign forces’ brutality during the war.)
tonally, welcome to dongmakgol reminded me of studio ghibli films, notably grave of the fireflies. this was achieved most ostensibly through joe hisashi’s music, which create a surreal and mystical atmosphere for the village. the stone figures / masks that decorate the paths leading to dongmakgol, or the appearance of butterflies whenever wartime weapons threaten to disrupt dongmakgol’s peace further emphasised the simplicity of dongmakgol and its connection with nature. the replacement of the symbols of wartime brutality with symbols of nature was a genius move - even the depiction of american bombs resembled fireworks.
welcome to dongmakgol, all the while placing the severity of war square centre, uses its artistic license to create an extraordinary, light-hearted tale of the korean war. it may seem like a cluttered film from afar, but it’s a surprisingly easy film to like and feel for. – 9/10
