Review of Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) by Gavin H — 08 May 2010

Easily one of the best, most unique movies made about the Korean war for two reasons. First it shares a Korean perspective of the absurdity of this civil war with neither side certain who invaded whom or why.

As one elder in the far-removed Shangri-La-type village of Dongmakgol puts it when he hears that a war is afoot, "Who's invaded this time? The Chinese? The Japanese?" and the answer of course is "er.

.. it's not that simple." Secondly, it's not your typical war movie. This movie manages to be heartwarming, humorous and tragic, defying--as many Korean movies do--to be placed strictly within one genre.