Ode to My Father (2014)

After tragically losing his sister and father, we follow our hero through the hardships of life. Ironically, it gets very comical during this time. The opening scene was touching, dramatic and heart wrenching, so I expected the film to follow the same pattern. The film felt overlong and even became a bit boring at times, essentially becoming a love story. The film then swiftly turned dramatic and emotional towards the end again, as families became reunited with loved ones, separated by war. Although it won't go down as a favorite, I'm glad I watched it.

I've seen Korean movies that get pretty "emotional", but this one did a great job of balancing the hard and heavy parts with the light hearted depiction of someone's life.You may wonder why and how could I say this movie isn't a seemingly intentionally-tear-jerking tryhard movie?My grandpa's family lived north of the border when the war broke. He had lost a single parent, and as his older brother was in the south of the border when the war started, he became the dedault head. He took care of 5 younger siblings when North Korea forced him to join their side in the Korean war. He however defected to the South, and he began looking for his brother but his brother was kIA. He was not even 20 years old at this point. As a result, he lived in the south with no family and no home. The only time I've seen my grandpa cry was when he talked about his youngest sister he hasn't seen since she was 5.So in many regards, this movie wasn't an intentionally tear jerking teagedy, it was a tragedy because it was reflecting reality of that time.

The film is the story of a guy born right before Korea war in 1950s and grew up and struggled in the country. The situation around him is harsh and cruel due to the drastically changing world affair. However he lives his life with lots of small but invaluable moments with his beloved family and friends. I was deeply touched by how strongly he is living everyday life. The beauty of connection of family is also impressive and moving.

Wowww! I don't know where to start. The movie was so much better than my expectation after reading the IMDb's movie critics' reviews. I feel compelled to disagree with some of the criticisms that this movie tried to be melodramatic, some scenes were unnecessarily too comical, and that it was improbable and unrealistic for a person to go through all such tumultuous events. I like to recommend those critics to read about the 20th century Korean history.My mother now in her 80's experienced many of the same experiences and some additional events in her lifetime: the Japanese occupation (1910- 1945), her 11 -year old classmates being shipped off by Japanese as wartime prostitutes during WWII (1939-1945), Korean independence (1948), Korean War (1950-1953) during which time she was a refugee in Busan, etc. Immediately after WWII, after Japan exhausted all of Korea's natural resources, goods and men to fuel their war engines, Korean War broke. Whatever remained standing or fertile were bombed or burned up. After the Korean War, Korea was literally in rubble and ashes. Many families were split up and scattered during the war. The Streets were covered with orphans. Holt Adoption Agency placed many Korean orphans in American homes. These are all accurate.As an early teen (in early 1960's), I was hearing about many Koreans hiring themselves out to foreign countries to find work as miners, nurses, or soldiers. The movie was also accurate that Germany did not extend the visas of foreigner miners for they were hired to make up for their temporary labor shortage. I do agree with the critics that some of the acting was a bit raw, but they were soon forgotten as the movie pulled me into the story. I appreciated the funny scenes in the movie, for without them, it would have been too depressing to watch. This is a wonderful, wonderful movie, you must see! It is playing in K-Town at CGV theater. Also good eats in the same shopping mall.