Silmido
What can I say: I thought this is some war movie (technically speaking, it totally is not) and, even worse, the main reason why I have heard of the film was that it was the highest-grossing Korean film from 2001-2003. I have been meaning to watch all of the highest-grossing of all times starting JSA (they are “Friend”, “Silmido”, “Taegukgi”, “The King and the Clown” and “The Host”) which should not be too hard since I have only have 3 more films to go.
“Silmido” is so incredibly much more than that. Oh my God MANLY KOREAN TEARS! I didn’t actually cry (unlike when I saw “Welcome to Dongmakgol” or “JSA”) but I was so incredibly close; perhaps even closer than for “Le salaire de la peur” when I thought I was already close enough. Especially since I had no idea about the premise of the story (except that I remembered the story was based on some true story), I was completely unprepared about the way this story would unfold. I expected them to die trying to kill some North Koreans, but it all came so much worse. Oh the tragedy – The candy! And they became such great friends too!
I am not cut out for seeing tragic war films. I was devastated after “Letters from Iwo Jima”, and for “Silmido” there were a few moments I lied in bed yesterday and scenes from the film would play in front of my eyes. It was just that sad.
Maybe “Silmido” is not actually a great movie (when, in comparison, “Welcome to Dongmakgol” and “JSA” are), but it surely was well-written, suspenseful and showed the whole breadth of the tragedy. I thought it absolutely deserved its success.