Review of Welcome to Dongmakgol

Welcome to Dongmakgol is a bit uneven in tone; the beginning of the movie deals with the horrors of war in a 'realistic' manner, common to contemporary movies dealing with the same subject matter--explicit portrayal of what bullets can do to the human body, etc. The village of Dongmakgol, on the other hand, is an isolated refuge located high in the mountains, almost pre-lapsarian in that it has somehow been preserved in a state of relative innocence, despite the various wars of the 20th century affecting Korea. The violence that is present in the first 15 minutes disappears for most of the film, but returns for the last 20 minutes or so.

First the American pilot Smith, flying a recon mission for the U.S. Navy, is mysteriously brought down (by insects, iirc). Two separate groups of soldiers, one from the North, one from the South, are escorted to Dongmakgol by villagers, where they decide to have a truce in order to help the villagers gather food, after a mishap destroys the village stores. They gradually get used to the simple peaceful life in the village. The secret of the village elder's ability to lead? He keeps the villagers fed, with corn and potatos.

Since this is a Korean movie, there is no happy ending. I suppose no happy ending can be possible in movies dealing with the divide between North and South, until the two are reunited. While the typical propaganda and rhetoric are mouthed by both sides, there is no thorough examination of which side is in the right and which in the wrong, just as in JSA and Taegukgi. Every attempt is made to humanize those who fight for the North; those who are thoroughly committed to bringing Communism to the South (as opposed to driving out the imperalist Western forces) are rather few. Does this reflect the attitude among certain people in government and S. Korean society that one must not alienate the North, at any cost? Surely one can recognize that the motives of those who fought for the North varied, and that some might even be relatively blameless, and yet still be critical of Communism and the Korean Communist Party.

Is the movie anti-American? It is not clear, though the Americans are intent on destroying whatever brought the recon mission and other planes done, guessing that there is an enemy antiaircraft position in the area. They send a commando mission to retrieve Smith and to destroy the enemy base; there are some fanatical Korean soldiers who are part of the rescue mission, along with Americans -- I think the team is dividedly evenly in half between the two. Smith is definitely a sympathetic character, who wants to protect the village from destruction and even helps the Koreans in their plan to divert the planned bombing raid.

Of course the movie asks us to accept certain things. It also doesn't answer some questions, such as why the villagers don't eat meat? This is never explained. The movie does not attempt a deeper explanation of why the villagers live as they do--simply because the 20th century has passed them by, and they are merely doing what they've learned? Or is there some greater wisdom involved? Still, as an obvious attempt to evoke some emotion regarding the divide, it works.

I liked the simplicity of village life, and the traditional clothing. I wouldn't mind wearing clothes like that, if I could get away with it...