Dal-su Oh, Korea's busiest supporting actor plays Duk-soo's best friend, Dal-gu through the years. His positive energy is affable and infectious, and his stubborn bickering with his wife and good friend, the source of many jokes. Jeong-min Hwang (of New World fame) who plays Duk-soo, gives his character a cheeriness balanced with a sense of dogged purpose. How the flashbacks are triggered is seamlessly and creatively done. I also love the brilliant use of flashbacks to move the plot. It was heartbreaking to see how a pair of sister and brother get separated in the chaos. Absolutely love that refugee fleeing scene of Hungnam in 1951 which later becomes part of North Korea. The staging of the epic scenes is so outstanding, I was easily pulled into the story. I like the strong sense of place and time.
Review - This film is ambitious in wanting to depict 60 years of tumultuous history through the life of one man. His dedication leads him first to the deadly coal mines of Germany, where he meets his first love, Youngja, and then to war-torn Vietnam in this generational epic about one man's personal sacrifices. Settling in Busan, Duk-soo devotes himself to his remaining family, working all manner of odd jobs to support them in place of his father. Synopsis - Amid the chaos of refugees fleeing the Korean War in December 1950, a young boy, Duk- soo, sees his fate change in the blink of an eye when he loses track of his younger sister and he leaves his father behind to find her. This one got the emotional beats spot on with nary any overt manipulativeness (which is a wonder) and it is easily one of the best films I have seen this year. Ode to My Father belongs in the category of the 'two'.
These are usually the dime in a dozen type of film. The moment it ends, all memories of the film start to dissipate into oblivion. If you have seen enough of Korean cinema, you will probably know your love for the current Korean flick is only there during the duration. There is always something new to be discovered and their narratives can be out of this world in terms of inventiveness, crazy story lines, hard-hitting action, high melodrama and kinetic energy.
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