Sixty-nine years ago today, North Korea launched an all-out attack on South Korea, officially beginning a three-year-old Korean War.
When we look back on this civil war, we hear more about the qualitative questions about the war, about where it was in the US-Soviet Cold War. History books record in detail the location of the war, the camps that participated in the war, and the details of the battle, but for those soldiers and civilians who died in the war, it is just a series of cold numbers.
Although this war did not last long, for the people living on the Korean peninsula, the impact of this war on them will last a lifetime. Countless families were forcibly torn apart and displaced in the war, causing the people who were happy and loving to suffer and suffer. Shell after shell, while smashing the enemy's tank armor, it also took away the hope of every family.
What is wrong with the people? They just want to find a lover who can support each other, take good care of their children, and let the next generation have a bright future. Why deprive this simple but happy little life?
Reflecting on history, as I have always emphasized, don’t foolishly think that sacrifice in war is as simple as the death of 10,000 people, but the death of one person, which happened 10,000 times. Every person is unique, and every journey in life is precious and worthwhile.
I don’t ask everyone to love both, but at least respect and understand every other who is different from myself, instead of dismissing casualties and disasters. It’s true that this is not what happened to you, but we are not all like this. part of the world? When you are about to make stupid and unreasonable remarks about other people's lives on the keyboard, when you are clamoring for the war to come, think about the pain of the past, maybe you will not be so impulsive.
The far-reaching impact of the Korean War on the people of North and South Korea can also be seen in the films of Korean filmmakers. Countless works reflect and criticize this war that forcibly divided a family into two countries.
As mentioned in the "North-South" films, the protagonists' identities often focus on government officials or soldiers. The creators use political events with strong dramatic conflicts to insinuate history and express reflections on war. Another type of film about the North and the South no longer focuses directly on political events, but instead uses the experiences of ordinary people and the heavy losses suffered by families in the war to arouse the audience's emotional resonance and thinking.
Take director Kang Di-kyu, who developed the "North-South film" genre and made outstanding contributions to Korean commercial films. A short film called "Love" directed by him five years ago focused the story on a man in the war. Yeon-hee, an ordinary woman who was forced to separate from her husband. Yeon-hee repeats the same life day after day, her only wish is that her husband can come back to her one day.
In the film, the director skillfully constructed a subjective point of view of Yeon-hee through audio and visual. The audience saw Yeon-hee as she was in her twenties, but in fact, Yeon-hee was already an old man. Because of her longing for her husband, Yanxi subjectively believes that she is still in her twenties, because her life has been stopped since her husband left.
At the end of the film, when Yanxi took her husband's favorite meals to the place where the separated family members reunited with the shuttle bus, she was stopped by the soldiers at the door. She was one of the few rays of sunshine in her life, just like this It was shrouded in merciless darkness once again. When the audience finally saw the elderly Yeon-hee walking towards the isolated barbed wire with heavy and trembling steps, the despair in her eyes also truly affected every audience in front of the screen.
This old man just wanted to see his husband, why is he not allowed to meet his relatives? Ideology can divide the land and decide the position, but it cannot cut off the blood and the fetters. There is so much pain in this world, but nothing is more heart-wrenching than not being able to meet our loved ones. The family who loves us deeply, and are loved by us, is everyone's last harbor. This kind of tragedy , really should not be repeated.
In the same year that Director Jiang produced and filmed "Love", there was a Korean film that also involved the Civil War theme and won high praise and box office after it was released in the country, and some critics called it the Korean version of "Forrest Gump". ". This "International Market", directed by Director Yoon Ji-kyun and starring Hwang Jung-min and Kim Yoon-jin, revolves around the life of a man named Deok-soo who rushes and dedicates himself to his family. The pain caused by the war to every ordinary family.
The oriental presentation of "Forrest Gump"
In fact, the author holds some different views on critics calling this film the Korean version of "Forrest Gump". What Forrest Gump does in Forrest Gump is more about finding and realizing self-worth, a kind of praise and yearning for the American Dream. A young man with an IQ of only 75 has never forgotten his original intention in the tide of history. With his purity and kindness, he finally proved that he is not a waste, nor should he be regarded as an alien, but a person who is equally worthy of respect. It's exciting and the way we want to live.
But compared to Forrest Gump's self-realization, Dexiu's life in "International Market" is very different. Everything Dexiu has done stems from his father's instruction when he was a child that, as the eldest son, he must take on the heavy responsibility of the family. The patriarchal discourse system advocated by Confucianism has been extremely reflected in this film. To a large extent, Dexiu's behavior is to fulfill his promise to his father, and it is also a kind of atonement for the loss of his sister. Regardless of the starting point, both point to one thing in common: family.
Dexiu was willing to sacrifice himself for the family, facing the choice of every key node in his life, and finally decided to sacrifice his future to complete the family. Dexiu went abroad twice in his life, the first time he went to Germany to mine, to earn money for his younger brother to go to college, and also to subsidize his family, but he also wanted to study and go to school, the director specially gave Dexiu a game because He didn't have the money to be kicked out of the school to show the ideal he actually wanted to achieve, but in the balance of family and self, he ended up favoring the former.
The second time I went abroad was to support troops on the frontline in the Vietnam War Central District. When Dexiu came back from Germany for the first time, he seemed to be a winner in life. He was a beautiful woman, had his own child, and was admitted to Ocean University. It seemed that he could finally live for himself once. But when Dexiu happened to hear that his sister was worried that she could not get married without a dowry, he finally chose to go to the battlefield, give up the opportunity to study, and solve the problem for her sister.
For an old man like Dexiu, who is endowed with a strong oriental symbolism, it may seem a bit out of place in the current era of increasingly pursuing personal interests, but looking back at those old people who are over eighty years old, it is their struggle. Only in exchange for our peace today. Just like the letter Dexiu wrote to his wife during the Vietnam War, I don't want my children to suffer the same pain, I don't want them to go through the hardships of their parents, and for the happiness of the next generation, everything is worth it.
At this point, the audience can better understand the director's intention to divide the time and space of the story into the present and Dexiu's memory time and space. In the eyes of his children and neighbors, Dexiu is just a stubborn and eccentric old man, but in fact he has given everything of his own to achieve the happiness of the next generation.
For love, Dexiu and his wife Yingzi's union is partly because Yingzi is pregnant with Dexiu's child. Their union is still based on completing the establishment of the family and fulfilling the responsibilities of being a parent. Of course, there is also love, but more is still giving way to the family.
In "Forrest Gump", although Forrest Gump and Jenny lived together for a while at the end, Jenny was already suffering from an incurable disease at that time. Jenny will not sacrifice herself just because Forrest Gump likes her, but resolutely leaves Forrest Gump to pursue the value in her life. And Forrest Gump is the same, he desperately rushed to love, but always failed, no matter whether he succeeded or failed, it was all out of his own wishes, not some kind of family responsibility and worldly requirements.
Home-based, for the collective sacrifice of individuals, the different choices of love and the fulfillment of his lifelong commitment to his father, Dexiu's choice can be clearly seen to be different from Forrest Gump's.
But it must be admitted that Dexiu and Forrest have a pure quality in them. They both firmly implement their own life creeds, and they are full of enthusiasm and kindness. Always be able to smile. The ascetic-style practice is only for the purpose of obtaining the final good fruit. Whether the starting point is family or personal, Forrest Gump and Dexiu have achieved it in the end.
Little People's Big Stories
Throughout the 60 years, the director has shown too many historical events belonging to the Korean peninsula and even China, from the Korean War to the Vietnam War. Although the definitions are different, the memory of the war is common. As Dexiu himself said, the so-called memory is to recall the past that makes us unforgettable.
Fortunately, the director did not focus the film on those historical stories, but integrated every major event into Dexiu's personal story. Ideological divisions and conflicts were important factors leading to the two wars, but the director downplayed them and focused on each individual who suffered in the war. In the face of war, we can distinguish between enemy and us, but there is no dignity in life, and every bloodshed incident is heartbreaking.
The agreement between Dexiu and his father is unforgettable for countless people, just like the shop of his aunt that Dexiu was unwilling to sell. Missing his relatives, he was reluctant to leave, but at the same time, it was a heavy shackle for Dexiu. He pushed himself so hard that he never had a chance to breathe in his life. In Dexiu's own view, what he did seems to be an atonement in some sense, because he did not catch his sister, and lost two close relatives at the same time, which is the shadow that accompanied Dexiu throughout his life.
A scene that moved the author in particular was when Dexiu and his party rescued a village of Vietnamese civilians in Vietnam and were raided by the army. Dexiu saw a little boy's sister fall into the water. At that moment, he thought of his own sister. In the scene, his rescue has a double meaning. On the one hand, it is to rescue the boy's sister, and on the other hand, it is also a kind of compensation for past regrets. Although Dexiu injured one of his legs in the end, he achieved his own redemption in this way.
The restrained war scenes, and the historical and political issues that are not too extended to explore, all revolve around Dexiu's life. What Dexiu projected is like countless people who have experienced that era. They have been through hardships and struggled to survive until today, and finally they can get a moment of tranquility. Just as Deok-soo finally hid in the room and cried bitterly, he finally fulfilled his promise to his father, guarded his family, and created ideal living conditions for the next generation.
Regarding the North-South issue, the director consoled many ordinary people who lost their relatives in the Korean War by looking for relatives in the TV program. When Deok-soo went to Seoul full of anticipation just to reunite with his long-lost sister, he was greeted by several disappointments. But the director was still gentle in the end. When the younger sister with an English accent and Korean said tearfully what Dexiu said to him back then, the door to memory was instantly opened. Dexiu finally found her sister and made up for her life. the biggest regret.
It doesn't take sacrifice to reflect on the war, and as viewers watch thousands of family members gather on the TV station hoping to find theirs, every family suffers from the loss of a loved one. Even if it's just so that these tragedies won't happen again, please call for peace. No one should go through such a catastrophe. Every family deserves happiness.
end
No matter how many years have passed, when we recall the past, there will always be some unforgettable moments, that moment is either happy or painful. History should not only fall into written records, but should arouse our attention and reflection. Time may be a good medicine to soothe all pains, but it can only make you forget the pain temporarily, but the scar is still there, we just lie to ourselves not to open it. But we all know that if we don't face up to history, then those tragedies may repeat themselves. Isn't our current situation justified by this sentence?
In memory of every ancestor who died in that war, I hope the tragedy will not repeat itself, the days of peace can last forever, and everyone can obtain their own happiness.
View more about Ode to My Father reviews
