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'Ode to My Father' An engaging Korean family drama
Tear-jerking story: A scene from Korean drama Ode to My Father, which centers on a manâs struggles and personal sacrifices to support his family
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T
em>Tear-jerking story: A scene from Korean drama Ode to My Father, which centers on a man's struggles and personal sacrifices to support his family.
After topping the box office at home and getting a special screening at the Berlin International Film Festival, Korean drama Ode to My Father sets to entertain Indonesian movie lovers with its tear-jerking story starting Feb. 16.
Since its initial release in South Korea in mid-December, the movie has seen more than 13 million ticket sales and become the second most-watched Korean film in the country, according to The Korea Times.
Directed by Youn Je-Kyun, Ode to My Father centers on a man's struggles and personal sacrifices to support his family. The story rolls in a flashback when Deok-Soo (Hwang Jung-Min) experiences a life-changing event during the Korean War in 1950.
Little Deok-Soo loses his younger sister when the family is about to flee Hungnam in North Korea to Busan in South Korea, forcing her father to leave his family behind on board a US ship to find her.
Upon their arrival in Busan, they live at his aunt's house who owns a small store. There, he has to replace his father's role as the breadwinner, working all kinds of jobs to support his family.
As years pass, he needs more money to pay for his siblings' education. His best friend Dal-Goo (Oh Dal-Su) tells him to go with him to Germany to work in a coal mine that offers more money.
Deok-Soo finds it a little bit hard to adjust to the new life abroad, but is surviving.
Seeking consolation from the hard, life-threatening work, Deok-Soo takes an afternoon ride when he meets his first love, Young-Ja (Kim Yunjin) who works as a nurse in Germany.
His meeting with Young-Ja then leads to some more happy events that he and his Korean fellow can enjoy during the break from work.
The screenwriter, Park Soo-jin, turns the happy events around as the coal mine explodes, injuring Deok-Soo and Dal-Goo, trapping them inside.
After being saved and treated at the hospital, Deok-Soo returns to Korea.
The homecoming is very amusing, capturing various human emotions in one scene.
Not long after, he marries Young-Ja who decides to also come home and settle in Busan with him.
Just when he finds happiness and opportunities come his way, bad luck pulls him back in.
Ode to My Father, whose original title Gukjesijang literally means Gukje International Market in Busan, is Youn's effort to honor war survivors.
Throughout the film, Youn successfully stirs emotions as Ode to My Father features a complete series of joy, sorrow, success, failures, celebration, conflict and sorrow.
Despite the jumpy plot, the special effects used to wrap historical moments and exciting scenes make the film an enjoyable family drama.
