Our Homeland (2012)
"Kazoku no kuni" (original title)

Based on the director's own experience, Our Homeland follows a Korean family living in Japan, of which the father (Masane Tsukayama) decided to take North Korean nationality because of his ... See full summary »

Director:

Yong-hi Yang

Writer:

Yong-hi Yang (screenplay)

Stars:

Sakura Andô, Arata Iura, Ik-Joon Yang

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sakura Andô	...	Rie
Arata Iura	...	Sonho (as Arata)
Ik-Joon Yang	...	Yang
Kotomi Kyôno	...	Suni
Tatsushi Ohmori	...	Hongi
Jun Murakami	...	Juno
Shogo	...	Chori
Sadaharu Shiota
Shinsuke Suzuki
Maho Yamada
Kumi Imura
Mutsuo Yoshioka
Yûko Genkaku
Sujin Kim
Tarô Suwa	...	Tejo

Storyline

Based on the director's own experience, Our Homeland follows a Korean family living in Japan, of which the father (Masane Tsukayama) decided to take North Korean nationality because of his strong belief decades ago. In 1997, Sonho (Arata Iura), the son of the family who was sent to North Korea under a "repatriation program" with the promise of a "paradise" free of discrimination, returns to Japan for the first time in 25 years to seek treatment for his brain tumor due to the difference in medical technology between the two countries. Allowed to stay for only three months and closely monitored by a North Korean officer (Yang Ik-Joon), Sonho is welcomed and embraced by his family and old friends but his father, who is still sticking to the belief but also feeling guilty about sending his son to North Korea at the same time, while Sonho's younger sister Rie (Sakura Andô) develops the aversion to North Korea and its political ideas.

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Plot Keywords:

north korea | korean in japan | three word title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Korean

Release Date:

4 August 2012 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Our Homeland

Filming Locations:

Senju Yanagi-cho, Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star Sands, Slow Learner

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Japan's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 85th Academy Awards 2013.

User Reviews

Migrating

This is a very personal movie for the director. She was present at the showing in Berlin at the Festival in February 2012. This movie is based on her childhood memories. Especially one character has many traits of her. The movie itself plays with a big theme, that concerns relations between Japan and (North) Korea.

I almost wonder if any politician will watch the movie and comment on it. Even if this does not play in the current time, I'm sure the governments have something to say about the events portrayed in the movie, so I'm looking forward to any reaction. Meanwhile I can tell you that the movie is really tense and it has everything a good drama needs. You won't be disappointed in that department, in case you thought it might drift into a boring depiction of things.

Unfortunately there are some filmmaking mistakes in the movie (like a film crew that can be spotted during one very emotional scene in the windows), that might make you wonder about the professionalism at work here. I hope it does not spoil the movie for you. And maybe with the help of CG, this will be fixed (though I doubt there is money for that in the budget). Powerful drama with slight mistakes then